Valor Comes in Many Forms
by Amaya Takeshi
Summary: Relena's turning 21, and all the Gundam pilots... even Heero, who hasn't been heard from for almost four years... have come. Together, they play a cruel game of feigning nonchalance that hurts more than amuses. What will make them realize their feelings?
1. Chapter 1: The Vow

Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam Wing.

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Relena Peacecraft would be 21 years old in only six days. It had been over three years since the Mariemaia incident, and so far, with the help of the Preventers' expertise, there had been no other threats to the peace. It was much stronger now, and much more stable, having been nurtured the entire time by the loving dedication and fiery determination of the once Queen of the World, now Vice Foreign Minister.

It was remarkable to think just how much this young woman had accomplished in just a few short years, and in the spring of her youth no less. She had rallied the People around her, lead them bravely, wisely, and above all selflessly, and, at the end of the fighting, gave them peace instead of clinging to power like the tyrants and despots of old. All this she had done on her own, and she had not even come of age yet.

Her private life was every bit as singular. During her reign, she had worked with each of the Gundam pilots individually. They had saved the world, and now, to save them, she protected their identities from the public. Their stories were tragic, she had to admit to herself, but they were courageous, righteous young men, and they were also her friends. So, with every bit of power and influence she possessed, she held their names within her knowledge and warded off the media's attempts to rob their secrets. She only wanted to ensure that they would be able to pursue the lives that they wanted to lead, make certain that they would be able to enjoy a little bit of the peace that they had fought and killed to give to the world. They were, after all, only 21 themselves; they still had their whole lives ahead of them.

But there was one other aspect about her private life that the media had successfully swarmed all over.

Currently, several close, childhood friends of Vice Foreign Minister Peacecraft's were en route to her stately, 118-acre estate for a few weeks of vacationing as well as in preparation for the grand affair that was to be her birthday. Misters Duo Maxwell, Quatre Winner, Trowa Barton, Wufei Chang, and Heero Yuy, when they arrived, would occupied five of the nine guest bedrooms of the palatial Peacecraft mansion. They would be accompanied by Misses Hilde Schbeiker, Dorothy Catalonia, and Sally Po. And finally, the Vice Foreign Minister's brother Milliardo Peacecraft and her sister-in-law Luzcrecia Noin (they have their own house in the mountains but they regularly come and go, sometimes staying half a year at a time) would round out the party. Together, these ten individuals comprised the entire roster of people whom Relena could never live without. And they had all pledged to be in attendance at her birthday party – more of a birthday ball, actually – taking place in less than a week.

But Relena had not seen the young men in quite some time. Her work was not one that allowed for much leisure time. Quatre she had seen the most often; his position as the President and CEO of the multi-million-dollar Winner Corporation brought them in constant contact and cooperation. Duo also would drop by every few weeks to say hello as he worked in the L2 colony's sweeper group and on his days off from the Maxwell Church. These two men were her closest friends and confidants. Trowa and Wufei were senior officers in the Preventers organization. They were not directly assigned to Relena, but the occasional reports and conferences kept them reasonably in touch. These two were also of a somewhat cooler demeanor, but that was only their personalities, and they were much better now than in the days of the war, Relena thought. And she also kept in mind that their line of work must take some slight sobering effect.

That left Heero.

Relena didn't know what to make of him. Truth be told, she was shocked to hear that he would be coming with all the others. She hadn't seen him since the Mariemaia incident was resolved, and she had only received a few messages from him over the course of three years – updates, warnings, and the like, nothing personal at all. Apparently, he was also one of the Preventers, but he must have been some kind of a maverick agent in order for him to continue operating apart from the main body. She supposed his skills must have been too valuable for the Preventers to drop him solely on the account of his not making appearances in the office. At any rate, it wasn't his job that confused her... it was the strange feelings they had for each other. Of the five men, he was the most important to her, not because she counted him as one of her closest friends, but because she loved him. She always sensed that he felt something for her, although she could never decipher it and he would never admit it. And then there was also the little glitch of his threats to kill her turning repeatedly into promises to protect her at all costs... _Omae o korusu_... She smiled inwardly every time she remembered that mysterious vow.

But then, a frown would follow right on the tail of that smile. He had not come back to see her in almost four years. She could not staunch the sadness that flowed like her heartsblood whenever she dwelled on memories of him. For almost four years, four long years, she waited for him – he still held her heart, you see. He must have known it too (there was nothing he didn't know), but he stayed away from her.

And so, on the eve of their arrival, Relena Peacecraft vowed never to let him influence her so again. She would not allow him to have his way with her heart anymore. This she vowed, while her body trembled, and then she steadied her wounded heart to receive him into her home.

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AN: Hello! My name is Wings of Moonlight, and I'm a brand new author. This is the first fanfic that I have ever written, and it features my favorite anime couple: Heero and Relena. If you could take a minute to review my story, I would really appreciate it! Thank you for reading, and check back for chapter two in a few days! 


	2. Chapter 2: Arriving in Style

AN: To gundamgirl818, I'd like to say thank you for giving me my first review ever. And to all my other reviewers, CrimsonDragon010, Inda, MoonGun, Rin Amaru, and Pilot Zero, thank you so much for taking the time to review chapter one. Your encouragements are so heartening, they got me all excited to write more!

Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam Wing.

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It was a bright and beautiful morning. Clean, white clouds drifted softly in the sky, the sun smiled graciously down at the world, and Relena's beloved rose garden was in full bloom. She had opened the windows at dawn, and the sweet fragrance of the prized flowers quickly drifted in to hang in the air. By the windows, Relena sat ensconced in an enormous, plush, and extremely comfortable armchair. She was very much looking forward to her friends' arrival, but they were not due for another 47 minutes. To pass the time, she had spread out several last minute decoration plans for her party on the table before her and was currently perusing them, trying to come to a definitive selection. It seemed like everything needed her personal consideration and approval, but she was happy that the matter at hand this morning was only party themes and not colony funding.

Noin would usually be there to help her make decisions, but she had left some time ago to run some errands. Milliardo, too, was out and about.

Suddenly, the doorbell rang. She jumped and, glancing at the clock perched on the mantlepiece, noted the time remaining: 39 minutes. Chastising herself for getting so worked up, just because old friends would be gathering, Relena muttered to herself, "It's probably Noin... or maybe Milliardo." She moved toward to entrance to admit her family and intercepted Pagan along the way. "It's just Milliardo," she smiled at him, "I'll get the door."

"Of course, Miss," he replied with his own smile of endearment, and returned to his duties.

Relena made to take the remaining few steps to the door, when the doorbell sounded again – and again, and again, and again in supremely annoying rapid succession.

"What...?" Relena paused midstep, severely confused, "That's not something Milliardo or Noin would do..." Hesitantly, she reached out, turned the doorknob, and cautiously pulled the door open.

"JOUSAN!" she heard a familiar voice yell loudly as a blurry, braided form tackled her in a bear hug. The next thing she knew she was spinning in the air, supported only by a pair of strong arms at her waist. She had an inkling, but she needed to know for certain who to chastise for this blatant display of childish enthusiasm, so she forced open eyes that had reflexively clamped shut. She saw the blurred, smiling faces of Quatre, Trowa, Sally, Hilde, and Dorothy, and – yes, Wufei too, as well as a long, brown braid swinging out below her. Duo.

"Duo! Put me down!" she laughed, before the spinning slowed to a stop and her feet touched solid ground again. She paused to catch her breath and put a hand to her right temple, willing for her head to clear, and a moment later when the room had righted itself she turned to smile at everyone in the group. Then, remembering her manners, "Please! Come in, all of you! I'm sorry for my shock, I wasn't expecting you for at least another half hour."

"Well, you see– " Quatre began.

"That," interrupted Duo with a proud grin on his face, "would be my doing."

And before he could elaborate, Wufei cut in, "Stupid baka harassed the driver to no end, kept yelling at him to 'take us to the Princess, chop chop!' It's a miracle we didn't crash into a ditch and explode in flames on our way over."

Everyone laughed at Wufei's excellent imitation of Duo. Wufei, slightly mortified that he had let himself go so much, muttered a dignified "Idiot..." under his breath, crossed his arms over his chest, scowled, and was done speaking for the time being.

"And good thing, too. God I've missed you, Princess!" said Duo as he draped an arm over Wufei's shoulders, "Right, Wu-man? Ol' buddy, ol' pal?" Wufei pushed him away.

Relena giggled happily, feeling that her heart was brimming with happiness at the presence of her dear friends. The girls immediately elbowed their way past the boys and hugged Relena.

"Hi girls," she greeted them warmly.

"Don't pay them any mind, Relena," smiled Sally.

"Yeah, Duo and Wufei are always at each other's throats," Hilde piped in, at the same time turning to shoot her boyfriend a glare. Duo caught her look and shrugged.

"We're all going to have fun together," said Dorothy, "It is, after all, your birthday!"

At the mention of the joyous occasion, everybody joined their voices for a heartfelt "Happy Birthday!"

"Thank you everyone," Relena smiled, "but it's not a big deal. I'm just happy I get to see all of you." She moved to hug the rest of her guests.

"But it is a big deal. And we're all here to blow it completely out of proportion," declared Quatre as he wrapped his arms around her back.

"Don't be so modest. It's not everyday you turn 21," encouraged Trowa when she put her arms around him.

Wufei said nothing to Relena, but he smiled down at the top of her head as he returned her hug. Everyone gaped at the uncharacteristic expression on his face, and at the fact that he held her in a hug at all. She had missed his smile, but she felt him squeeze her affectionately and knew he was just as happy as Duo was to be here.

Relena released the Chinese man and turned another circle to make one last sweep of her guests. It was then that she saw him.

He stood a little apart from the rest of the group, but he had been watching her intently since she opened the door. He had grown very tall, and his build was significantly sturdier and more muscular. He wore blue jeans and a black shirt underneath his brown Preventers jacket, and his hair was still in the same messy, sexy state.

_Some things never change_, she thought to herself, before she realized her thoughts and reprimanded her mind. _Stop that! Remember your vow!_ She gave him a the same bright smile she gave everybody else. _That's right, no special treatment for you. You're just another one of the group, no one special at all._

"Heero," Relena greeted him, looking into his unforgettable Prussian blue eyes, "How are you?" She didn't think she should hug him. Everyone else watched them intently; they all felt the sudden tension in the air.

"Hn." _Things really don't change._ A long pause. "Happy birthday."

Relena blinked her eyes in surprise. _Never mind_, she noted, and smiled. "Thank you. And thank you also for coming." He nodded once. It was the signal that broke the spell of tension.

Relena turned her back to the former pilot of Wing Zero. "Please, come with me, everyone," she made a sweeping gesture with her hand that incorporated all eight people into her request, "and I'll show you your rooms. After you get settled in, we'll have breakfast."

The five young men all picked up their duffel bags, but Duo, Quatre, and Wufei each stooped to take up another set of luggage.

"You know, I'm perfectly capable of carrying my own luggage," began Sally, who was always one for male-female equality, but Wufei cut her off with some mumbling about "men's honor."

Dorothy, thinking along the same lines as Sally, politely requested to carry her own luggage, whereupon Quatre, ever the gentleman, politely refused.

Duo, on the other hand, was currently making a big show of hoisting Hilde's suitcase onto his back. Puffing and blowing, he buckled his knees dramatically and made as if he would collapse from its weight. But at a dirty look from his girlfriend, Duo grinned broadly and swung the bulging cargo around to lift it effortlessly with one arm.

"Baka," Hilde muttered.

"I heard that!" Duo yelled over his shoulder. Relena laughed.

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AN: The beginning of this story is quite lighthearted. It'll change, though, as the plot progresses, and the Heero/Relena focus will come in heavily later. From here, it looks to be somewhere around 10 chapters long. To my reviewers, who have been so kind and encouraging, I am so very grateful. As sort of a gift, but more just because I don't want to disappoint them, I promise to update this story with a new chapter routinely and rapidly. My goal is every three days, and although I may get busy, rest assured you will never have to wait longer than a week. That said, check back for chapter 3 in a few days! 


	3. Chapter 3: Mission Accepted

AN: My apologies for the extensive delay; I was out of town for a week. But I also received a review from Pilot Zero that reminded me not to "lose the plot" in my efforts to churn out chapters quickly. It made a lot of sense; I owe it to you my readers to make every chapter good, so I should not sacrifice content to speed. Thank you, Pilot Zero. Just for that note, even though we do not know each other, I feel like you are not only encouraging me but also watching over my writing and helping me to improve as a writer. And that is only with the second chapter out. I can't wait to see how I can make the story better as I put out more chapters.

Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam Wing.

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"Relena, when are you going to give us the grand tour?" asked Dorothy, as they made their way toward the guests' wing of the mansion. "This place is huge!"

"Must get lonely without us around to keep you company, huh," joked Duo as he walked with his arms behind his head, neck craning to take in the architectural detail of the ceiling. Quatre walked beside him, also admiring the beauty of the structure. Behind them strolled Trowa and Wufei, and even farther behind, Heero, eyes glancing left and right, noting the exits and entrances, scanning for surveillance cameras and sensors. His training had never left him.

Making a turn, Relena paused before a short hall. There were five doors on the left and four on the right. "Here we are," said Relena."All furnished with double beds, desks and chairs, secure wireless internet, dressers, full baths," she listed as she stepped around opening all nine doors. "Take your pick."

"DIBS!" yelled Duo, shooting a hand into the air like a first-grader and running to the front of the crowd.

"On what!" groaned an exasperated Hilde.

"The best room, of course!"

"Don't insult Relena! They're all great rooms!"

"Fine then, be that way..." Then his eyes lit up. "Better yet, be my roomie!"

"What?" Hilde looked at him as if he were crazy.

"Come on, I've got your luggage. It almost killed me, lugging it all this way; I'm not about to drag it into another room."

"You're crazy. There are more than enough rooms for all of us."

"Come on! It'll be fun!"

"No way, Duo. That would be improper."

"Aw, you're such a party-pooper."

While they had been arguing, the other six guests had all moved to claim their rooms. Heero picked the one closest to the front of the hall, for the quickest access to the rest of the mansion. Wufei retreated to the last room in the line. Sally, Trowa, Quatre, and Dorothy, too, had all taken the rooms across the hall. Duo turned to the nearest room, but just as he had reached the door, Heero stepped into the doorway to block his path and glared at him.

"HEY!" Duo cried, "That's MY room!"

"Wrong," replied Heero, a hint of annoyance in his voice, "Yours is over there... very far away."

"Can you believe this guy?" Duo demanded of his girlfriend, but she wasn't behind him anymore. "Hilde?" He turned a full circle and realized he was the only one left standing in the hall. A few steps away, Relena stood with hands clasped neatly in front of her, giggling a little at her loud American friend.

"There are still two rooms left," she told him smilingly.

Duo looked from one door to the other. Suddenly his sullen, pouting expression lit up in a luminous, wicked smile. The room next to Wufei's had not yet been taken.

-----

When all her guests had settled in – the necessary communications links to Preventers headquarters set up, the hurricane of unpacking summer dresses and piecing together outfits settled, and the obligatory showing up in and being kicked out of Wufei's quarters completed by Duo – Relena led the way to the dining room.

It was a bright and cheery room; one whole wall was made of glass, allowing daylight to stream unimpeded into the room and affording a stunning view of the extensive and exquisite rose garden. Pagan, in all his sensibility, had already set the table for nine.

Heero, once again, had fallen to the back of the crowd. As they all filed around the table and selected their seats, Quatre, Wufei, and Duo had stopped to pull out the seats for their girlfriends. _Quatre's a good influence on Duo and Wufei. _Relena mused smilingly as she watched the scene before her. _Quatre's impeccable manners and chivalrous courtesy has never failed to rub off onto everyone he meets... even the incorrigible Duo. _When she turned to take her own seat at the head of the table, she felt a figure nearby and turned. Surprisingly, it was Trowa who stood behind her, hands on the back of her chair. He smiled softly at her and pulled it out for her. Relena blinked twice, slightly surprised, but she smiled graciously and thanked him before taking the seat. She watched him walk a few steps to the empty seat on Quatre's other side and lower himself gracefully into it, and while doing so, missed the dark scowl on Heero's face.

Heero noticed that she did not look at him at all, and mentally kicked himself. _You didn't have to get her seat for her. It's not like you're her boyfriend. In fact, you don't have to do anything for her at all. Just keep staying out of her way like you've been doing for the last three years._ He watched her watch Trowa sit down, noting that all the while she had not glanced at him. _She doesn't even care anymore. She barely even knows you're alive._ His mind continued to hiss at him, and he turned his head to look passively out the glass wall.

Relena turned her eyes to Heero and saw him staring at nothing. _What did you expect? He hasn't been around for four years, he's not about to pull out your chair. He doesn't feel anything for you anymore, so why do you still think about him? Remember what you said._ "I know."

"What did you say?" Inquired Dorothy from her left side.

_Had I spoken aloud?_ "Nothing," Relena smiled her politician's smile. Dorothy looked at her askance, astutely suspecting something was up, but Relena was saved from having to explain herself by the arrival of Pagan bearing coffee, orange juice, and one glass of water. The water he set down in front of Relena; it was her customary drink at almost every meal. He then gave a glass of juice to everyone else at the table. Finally, he poured coffee to those who would take it. Quatre thanked him politely and began to add the proper amount of cream and sugar to his mug. Trowa, Wufei, and Heero had all nodded their thanks and drank their coffees black. Duo, having thumped the old butler soundly on the back (and earning a strangely twisted but undoubtedly amused look from the assaulted man), proceeded to empty the contents of the sugar bowl happily into his drink. Sally, too, had asked for a cup, and, watching Wufei drinking his, took a tentative sip of the dark, unsweetened liquid. She managed to curb the small choking sound while it was still in her throat, but her expression had not gone unnoticed by Wufei, who smirked with the air of one supremely pleased with himself.

"Don't try that again, Onna," he called to her, "If you can't handle a little coffee, just drink your juice instead."

"It's SALLY, not 'Onna'," she addressed him, "And the coffee is delicious, thank you very much." And with that, she tipped the cup and drained it all in one gulp, drawing a cocked eyebrow to accompany that self-satisfied smirk.

"That's the spirit!" yelled Hilde, "You show him! Hey Duo, lemme see your coffee. I've got to support Sally in her quest to put Wufei in his place."

"Sure thing, Babe." He passed her the cup.

"Cheers," said Hilde, raising the mug to Sally and then to Wufei across the table, and took a mouthful. Before she could even take the mug away from her lips, Hilde's eyes went wide with shock. She clasped both hands tightly over her mouth and made a screaming noise, but she couldn't open her mouth without spitting Duo's sugar-saturated coffee out. Forced to keep the offensively sweet liquid in her mouth, her eyes began to water.

"H-Hilde?" Duo ventured tentatively, "Are... are you OK?" He peered into his coffee and couldn't for the life of him figure out what was wrong with it. It was perfectly good coffee.

Hilde glared at him with red, teary eyes. Then, needing to yell at him more than being disgusted by his coffee, Hilde squeezed her eyes shut and swallowed. She clutched her shirt right above her heart and took several breaths of air, face still twisted in a grimace. Then she rounded on her boyfriend.

"You idiot!" These two words began a torrent of passionate yellings. "What were you thinking? You almost KILLED me! Who in the world takes their coffee with twice its volume in sugar?"

Duo tried to raise his napkin between himself and his fiery girlfriend to block some of her wrath, but to no avail. Hilde simply tore the square white cloth from his pinched thumbs and index fingers and continued on, undaunted. A moment later, Dorothy joined in on the fun, on Hilde's side of course, and Duo was seriously beginning to look as if he might start crying. Presently, Quatre entered the fray trying to calm things down, but he did not have much luck against the determination of the wronged of the female sex. Soon, the whole table was in an uproar. From the other end, Wufei had gladly taken the opportunity at this time to take up some of his irritation with the American pilot regarding a few totally unrelated issues. Even Trowa had contributed to the din with the whole entire sentence, "This is very amusing."

In all the chaos, they did not notice it when Pagan entered again, this time carrying a large silver tray laden with sliced sponge cake, croissants, toast, and other assorted pastries arranged in concentric circles around a pile of fresh fruit. He had frozen midstep, unsure of how to proceed to announce his presence, but fortunately Relena saw him and rose to take the platter from his hand. She stumbled a little with the hefty burden, and was shocked to suddenly notice Heero at her side. He offered to take the large plate, but she thanked him and turned him down without meeting his eyes, saying only, "I can manage." She carried the heavy tray over to the table and set it down in the middle. "May these gifts appease you all."

Surely enough, the yelling stopped at the sight of the delicious-looking food. Duo snatched a piece of sponge cake before Hilde could reach for one, and presented it to her. "A peace offering," he said, grinning apologetically.

Hilde sighed heavily and finally snatched the fluffy yellow cake from his palm. "I hate how I can never stay mad at you." Duo winked at her.

The rest of breakfast was carried out in a markedly more civilized manner. As the food supply dwindled, Dorothy spoke up.

"Relena, do you have any plans for the rest of today?"

The Vice-Foreign Minister took a moment to think about it. "No, not really. There's a meeting for the generator funding for the colonies tomorrow, but I've already prepared my notes last night."

"Great. Because we're going to help you finish planning your party. And when the paperwork is passed, we're going shopping for your dress." At the mention of the word, the other two girls both voiced their enthusiastic consent.

"All right," Relena gave in with a smile. She could never deny anything that gave her friends such excitement and joy. Then, turning to the former pilots, "Forgive me, but it seems I will be occupied for the remainder of the day. You have free run of the house and use of its various forms of transportation, and Pagan and the rest of the housekeeping staff will be at your service. I trust you all to take care of yourselves?" They nodded. "And Duo–"

"Yah Phrinss?" was the noise that came from a mouth stuffed with cake.

"Stay out of trouble."

When the table had been cleared and the girls had taken their leave (after Hilde thwarted Duo's attempt to stuff the three last pieces of cake into his pocket "to save for later," as he had explained), Trowa spoke up.

"I received a new message from Une before breakfast."

The mood of the room became very serious in a split-second. They all knew this could only mean bad news, if all five of them had to be informed of the one development.

-----

Back in Trowa's room, where the pilots had gathered around his chair, staring intently at his laptop screen, Quatre asked, "It's about Relena, isn't it? What is it?"

In response, Trowa called up the message and displayed it for everyone to read.

**07:18:54**

**Attention Gundam Pilots:**

**Obtained first information on new terrorist group.**

**Faction name: Baal**

**Faction size: Unknown.**

**Leader: Unknown**

**Location: Earth.**

**Objective: Take control of the political scene. Possibly will use influence to start another war. Large-scale weaponry and substantial arms detected and prepared for use.**

**Target: Relena Peacecraft.**

They all looked at each other. Relena had given each of them way too much; they would protect her and her peace at all costs.

"Mission accepted."

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AN: The next chapter will mark the formal start of the Heero and Relena content, and subsequently, the more serious, angsty mood. I'm not sure, but I think the rating might go up in two or three chapters. At any rate, I'll definitely let you know before it does. Support and advice are greatly appreciated. Thanks for reading! 


	4. Chapter 4: For You I Will

AN: Hello. I'm back on schedule again, so here's Chapter 4, ready for the reading. Dragonfire707, thanks for your warm encouragements! Pilot Zero, sorry but it doesn't look like the Gundams will be making an appearance in this fic. Gundamgirl818, thank you for the detailed review about which parts you liked and your helpful suggestion for future content. To be honest with you, I've already written several chapters ahead of this one; they're sitting in my laptop waiting for editing. But you'll be happy to know (or find out) that there is going to be something like that. It's right in this chapter, in fact! You and I, we think alike. : ) Thanks again to all my supportive reviewers, and enjoy this chapter!

Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam Wing.

* * *

That night, after the girls had returned with bags and bags of their loot, Zechs and Noin had returned to the mansion (Zechs had not sought out Heero, and Heero was all too eager to reciprocate), and everyone had retired to their own rooms, Heero sat at his laptop in the darkness of his room. He stared at the memo that Trowa had forwarded to all the pilots, a hundred different thoughts blazing through his mind.

_Relena's in danger again._ He saw her face in his mind's eye. _I promised to protect her._ At breakfast, she had rejected his help with the plate. _She's changed. She doesn't cling to me anymore. _There was a strange feeling in his chest. Sadness? Disappointment? _What is this weakness inside of me...? I hate feeling weak. _And then... _That's exactly why..._ _I had to stay away._ A self-justification that made his hands clench involuntarily into tight fists.

"I had to stay away," he repeated monotonously into the darkness, in an attempt of vindication. _What was your reason, again?_ "I'm better off without her." _No, that's not it._ "She's better off without me." _Try again._ "What do you know?" _I know you're scared. The Perfect Soldier is afraid of his feelings for a girl._ "I don't care about her."_ Liar._ Heero grabbed the gun lying on the table beside his laptop. "Keep talking and I'll blow you to oblivion." Silence in his head. "Good." A brief moment passed._ You know, she cares about you... _

This time, the silence was on his end.

-----

It was the day before the party. All the last minute planning had only been completed the evening before. All week long Relena has kept herself true to her word. She did not fawn over Heero like a love-sick little girl, and only rarely did she lapse into moments of contemplation and reminiscence of the former pilot of Wing Zero. At first she had tried to convince herself that she didn't feel anything for the man who had saved her countless times, but her heart, the truest part of her, refused to be smothered. So she admitted to herself that she still loved him, even after all these years, but she resigned herself to the fact that Heero just did not, and very likely would never, return her feelings. Knowing this, she dug deeply inside her soul for the strength to go about with the semblance of normalcy. She was mature enough to live with a little unrequited love, she decided, without allowing it to break down her external composure. What goes on internally, though, would abide by no rules and was a burden that was meant to be hers and hers alone; it was her conviction that no one else need be bothered by it. And she felt reasonably confident that she could keep this act up for the duration of her friends' visit, as long as things remained exactly the way they have been for the past few days and that nothing happened to jerk an already tightly-stretched string.

Heero, too, had been watching Relena all week. He made sure to remain distant and cool to everyone's eyes, but something had been bothering him ever since that night when that voice in his head tried to commit suicide. Perfect soldiers didn't have weaknesses, it was true, but if something was affecting their concentration or performance, the proper course of action would be to solve the problem instead of shoving it aside. Acknowledging this logical strategy, Heero took for himself a sub-mission: to prove that he was not made weak by the amazing girl who was, for the next month or so, his and everyone else's gracious hostess. He would accomplish this end when he showed that Relena, not himself, was the one that was shaken by the other's presence. He would have to be cold, but that was nothing new to him. He would have to formulate a strategic plan, but that was no hard task. And he would very likely have to be cruel. Cruel. To Relena? Yes, he would do it, if by being so he could redeem himself. He always had been, and always must remain, the Perfect Soldier.

That night, they had all gathered for a late dinner at the mansion. Even Zechs and Noin had joined them for the meal that would usher in Relena's much-anticipated and all-important 21st birthday. They filled up the seats at the dining table located in the great hall. The breath-taking crystal chandelier hung a few feet above the center of the table, its teardrop treasures catching the light and throwing it in a million prismatic fragments onto the elegant china and silverware set meticulously upon a beautiful embroidered tablecloth.

Dinner itself was a pleasant affair. Quatre had produced several bottles of very old, very expensive wine, and they had all toasted to their favorite princess-politician, who blushed with modest joy. The arrival of the first course of the meal, and the promise of five more to follow, received Duo's loud, cheering approval. He was always a big fan of food.

Somewhere between the first and second course, Relena had announced that she had eaten quite her fill. She sipped her wine and tasted some of the dishes now and then as she watched her friends and family eat and listened to their conversations. The food was so plentiful and so exquisite that by the time the sixth and last course had been served, even Duo of the Bottomless Stomach was hard-pressed to fill up his plate.

Just as the former Deathscythe pilot had sat back in his chair and admitted defeat, the clock on the mantle clicked as its hands slipped into the vertical position. It was midnight. The next day had officially arrived, and Relena was officially 21. Everybody wished her "happy birthday!" and the girls brought in the extravagant cake they had baked for her, illuminated with twenty-one brightly burning candles. "Girls..." Relena tried to speak, but her joy was overwhelming. "Th-thank you. Thank you all so much." She passed her hands over her eyes, wiping away the tears of joy that made her clear cerulean eyes glisten so brightly.

But immediately she froze; the small and unconscious action had reminded her forcefully of one particular morning when she was fifteen years old. There was a rooftop involved, and a clear blue sky overhead; a mysterious new student leaning on the rail, and a torn invitation. And there was a gentle hand brushing the tears from her cheeks in a gesture mirroring the one she was making now. _No!_ She jumped involuntarily with the realization of the origins of the memory.

"What's wrong, Relena?" asked Milliardo from beside her right hand. He was peering at her intently, concern showing unhidden through his eyes.

"No-nothing," she stammered, thinking quickly on her feet, "I just realized that... that the ball is tonight! It'll be long, and there's much to see to before it can begin, so I'd like to get some rest now while I can." She hoped that was a convincing act. She bent to blow out the dancing candles hastily. _I wish Heero and I could stop playing this game. _"If you would please excuse me... Thank you all again, you've been more than kind. I couldn't eat another bite, but please help yourselves to the cake." She stood from her seat and made to leave the dining hall.

The others were looking to each other, confused by the sudden change. But Relena's explanation seemed logical enough; there was a ball to attend tomorrow – or, rather, tonight – and there would be plenty of opportunities to talk and have fun then. So they allowed her to go, themselves opting to stay for only a few minutes more . However, Relena's act did not fool everybody. One pair of Prussian blue eyes noticed her wiping movement, saw her jerk her hand away immediately, and made the connection with the scene that she had remembered and that he had taken part in. He rose from his chair. Knowing that he, as a soldier, could not use the excuse of needing rest to discourage prying questions, said instead, "I have a report to make," and exited the room.

In the hall, he spied Relena making her way to her room and caught up with her rapidly. Preoccupied with trying to shake her unwanted memories, she did not notice his presence until he grabbed her wrist. She gasped and spun around in surprise, only to find herself face-to-face with the one man whom she would give anything not to be near at that very moment. Momentarily taken aback, she barely registered that no one else was nearby before she stared him down with eyes that flashed with anger. How dare he approach her so brashly, and just as she was seeking refuge from a memory of him?

Heero looked unflinchingly down into her fiery eyes. His grip on her wrist did not release. He spoke not a word, but instead tried to let his eyes speak for him. Relena knew that he saw through her and had come to her on that account, but refused to be the one to initiate anymore personal conversations, and so she focused on reading the expression on his face and the meaning in his eyes. They stood that way for minutes that seemed like centuries – eyes searching eyes, hearts searching hearts. Suddenly, with no sound uttered between them, Relena felt Heero's apology as if it had hit her square in the chest. She didn't know how she knew, but she knew as sure as he was standing there before her. And it moved her so much that a new tear fell from her eye and forged its own path down her already-tear-streaked face.

He saw the tear and gave in to his emotions.

With his free hand, Heero reached to brush it away. Memory became reality. But in a move that did not correspond with recollection, the man in front of her bent his head down towards her face. Lower and lower it dropped, and closer and closer he drew. Relena was frozen in place, terrified by the situation that she felt was spinning out of her control.

A million years later, her lips felt, for the first time, the lips of another. Of Heero. Time stopped in its track as the man who held her heart gave her her very first kiss. Her senses were filled with him; the back of her neck tingled under the hand he had laid there to keep her in place, his clean, masculine scent created a haze in her brain, and his lips were soft but firm as they pressed against hers gently. He had successfully obliterated all coherent thoughts from her mind except for how beautiful was the experience they were sharing at the moment.

When he ended the kiss and drew back from her, the spell was broken.

Frightened by the intensity of her own emotions, Relena lashed out at the man who caused such uncertainty in her. "Heero," she uttered finally, in a choking voice, as she brought her fingertips up to touch lightly her kiss-swollen lips, "Why did you just do that?"

"Relena..." he growled softly.

But she would not let him finish. This was the tug that snapped the string. Anger once again drove her. "Why did you come?" She was glaring at him with eyes that flashed with anger. "You stay away for over three years, knowing that you were taking my heart with you, but you did it all the same! For over three years, I've cried for you, my body ached for you, my heart bled for you to come back. But you never did. And now, when I've finally put you in my past – not stop loving you (I'll never be capable of that) but only acknowledge that you would never come back into my life again – when I've finally learned to live without you, you show up! And you k–" She found it unexplainably difficult to say. "You... kiss me... What am I supposed to do, Heero? What do you want me to do? Weep like some love-sick little girl that you've found it convenient to reappear in my life and give me my first kiss?" The tears were streaming unabated now. "I can do that, Heero. For you I will," she spat, and she turned and dashed to her room.

Heero was left standing alone in the hall. His face was a carefully blank mask as he fought down the urge to tear out his own heart.

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AN: In order for this fic to work, you're going to have to just go with the flow (for example Relena gets her first kiss here and not it Blind Target). Please, just take it as it is... it's all planned to set the angsty mood. And also, I only briefly mentioned Zechs and Noin. Don't expect to see any more of them in future chapters other than the occasional reference here and there. Sorry to all the big fans of this couple. I like them too, but trying to work them into the story gets too complicated. Thanks for reading. Reviews will be greatly appreciated. 


	5. Chapter 5: Birthday Ball

AN: Hi guys. The long-awaited night is finally here. Gundamgirl818, I hope Relena's dressing-up is to your liking. You have requested, several times, that I please make her pretty. : )

Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam Wing.

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The next afternoon, there was an electric buzz in the air. Everyone was especially excited as they helped to set up for the grand birthday ball; Relena had informed them that invitations had all been sent half a year ago, and that every politician, dignitary, corporate head, and public figure would be in attendance. 

Bent on burying her past with Heero – "the past" being everything that happened from the moment she saw him lying on the beach to anything that happened just a second ago – Relena used every reserve of her politician's skills to keep anyone else from discerning any details. And so far it was working; the schooled smile on her face ensured that none of her friends were any wiser to the most current episode of their personal difficulties. She herself was spared from having to dwell on the events of the previous night by her duties of hostess and supervisor to the preparations. She could never stay in one place for very long as she ran here and there addressing one thing and another, but all the while she made sure to carefully avoid one Heero Yuy.

Every one of her guests were also pulling their weight in the decorating. Hilde and Dorothy eagerly volunteered for placing the myriad of floral clusters and centerpieces into position. Sally and Wufei were competing as to who could cover and set the perfect tables. Each of them had armed themselves with a ruler calibrated down to the millimeter.

Heero was seated in the far corner, laptop open in front of him. Unsurprisingly, he had taken upon himself the task of programming and wiring all the security cameras, sensors, and checkpoints. He was not completely unaffected by the events of last night, but that still didn't change the fact that he knew nobody else was as equipped and experienced as himself in the area of electronic defense.

Quatre was in the kitchen. Word of his elegant taste for wines and other delicacies had spread to every staff in the mansion, and they had all come to ask him for his suggestions on what to serve. He was accompanied there by Duo, who promptly appointed himself the Official Taste-Tester. He would suffer no dish to pass by without having several pieces tasted and personally approved. But then again, he approved of every morsel he had put into his mouth.

Trowa was nowhere to be found in the kitchen or on the ballroom floor. Offering his help with a much less accessible task, he was now lightly and sure-footedly walking the length of the room on a makeshift tightrope, banners and streamers in hand, tacks and push-pins in mouth, embellishing the three-story-high ceiling with the colorful strips of paper. Relena had protested when he went up even before she could dispatch one of the staff to look for a suitable safety net, but he had called down to her not to worry, and that he was very comfortable at any heights. Still, she could not help yelling at him to be careful, to which he responded with the tiniest of smiles. He was, after all, a death-defying circus acrobat by occupation.

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That evening, the ballroom and the rest of the first floor of the mansion were crowded with the esteemed guests of Relena's birthday gala. By the far wall, a large, live symphony orchestra was playing strains of tasteful classical music. Gentlemen in slick black suits accompanying ladies in elegant evening dresses mulled about, chatting idly with each other. Topics ranged from politics to celebrity gossip to the breathtaking ceiling decorations whose methods of attachment nobody could fathom. The newly-come-of-age hostess of the ball had not made her appearance yet.

At the wall by the stairs, five young men were standing together, not speaking much but watching the crowd intently. Their friends were still upstairs, attending to the Vice-Foreign Minister.

The one with the long braid spoke up. "Geez, look at all these suits... buncha stiffs."

Then, the one with the small ponytail, "Maxwell, _you're_ wearing a suit."

The man referred to as "Maxwell" replied, looking down at himself forlornly, "Yeah, but I'm not liking it."

"Guys come on," said a gentle voice belonging to a blond, "We're here for Miss Relena."

"Yeah, you're right. Speaking of the which, where is the Princess? Don't tell me she skipped out on her own party? Though if she did, I'd say she's got the right idea– " he was cut off when Hilde appeared beside him and took his arm, dressed in a royal purple slip that matched the color of his eyes. Sally and Dorothy, too, had taken their places with them. They were dazzling in a scarlet halter and an iridescent emerald dress, respectively. At the same moment, the room fell silent and all eyes turned to the top of the stairwell beside them.

There, poised with one hand resting softly against the banister, Relena Peacecraft stood shining like a vision. She was wrapped sensuously in a strapless apricot-hued gown that brought out the glow of her porcelain skin, accentuated her modest but pleasing curves, and drew attention to her slender figure in all the right places. The back was cut daringly-low, fully exposing a large, shapely expanse of creamy skin, while the skirt that skimmed the floor at the front lengthened until it formed a small, graceful train behind her. The material was just like fluid, and shimmered delicately regardless of whether she moved or not. She wore her hair in her trademarked style: two thin braids starting from her temples and pulled together at the back of her head, but it had been brushed by Dorothy until it was smooth and glossy. Her makeup was light and refreshing, just enough to illuminate her already clear eyes. Everything was perfect about her, from her carefully matched earrings to her fashionable high heels and even down to the minute detail of her manicure. The entire room was awestruck. Even the orchestra had paused in its composition.

Ever playing the politician, Relena took this opportunity when all eyes were trained on her to make a brief speech.

"Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for attending my birthday ball. It is my sincerest hope that you all enjoy yourselves tonight."She smiled dazzlingly down at the occupied floor as they applauded her. The orchestra resumed their playing and Relena began to walk gracefully down the stairs.

On her way down, she scanned the room and glimpsed some dignitaries whom she needed to establish communications with before the night was over. Just as she placed her right foot on the third-to-last step, she was caught tightly by the wrist. She looked to the side of the stairs to the person who had the grip on her. Heero Yuy. Her cerulean eyes flashed angrily. How dare he touch her now? His own Prussian eyes were convoluted with emotions, but she didn't care. At the moment she was in pain. Was it from his steel grip on her wrist or from his mere presence? She wrenched her arm away from him roughly, feeling the skin of her wrist twist savagely, but knowing still that there was nothing she could do to herself that would burn more painfully than his touch.

She wanted to escape into the crowd, but the other Gundam pilots and the girls were all there. She was forced to smile.

"Hey, Beautiful. Killer party," said Duo, motioning with his head at a tense and snobby-looking group of ancient politicians standing rigidly about twelve feet behind his left shoulders.

She craned her neck to follow his gesture and sighed dejectedly, shaking her head. The Senators were some of the people on that list of must-greets. Then she noticed another group to their side. The men and women were all staring at the ceiling, many of them pointing and gesturing, and one man even frowned as he stroked his beard thoughtfully. Relena turned, laughing, to Trowa, who raised an eyebrow at her. "They're wondering how I accomplished that," she giggled, looking to the ceiling herself. Trowa also followed suit, but finding nothing extraordinary in the streamers hung 40 feet high, brought his gaze back down to the Vice-Foreign Minister. He gave her a small smile that said it was their little secret, and she, having caught his message, grinned brightly.

She felt more than saw Heero's distaste with their friendly little exchange.

"As much as I'd love to pass the evening with my favorite gentlemen and ladies," she began, looking at everyone but Heero, "this ball is not purely a fun affair. In fact, it's mostly business, and I'm behind schedule already. If you'll excuse me, I must make my rounds."

Quatre stepped forward. "Relena, if you don't mind, allow me to accompany you. I, too, have appearances to make."

She nodded and smiled, and together they left the group.

When they had taken a few steps away, Quatre spoke softly, "Relena, is everything all right? You seem upset by something lately."

_How could he see through me? Am I not careful enough? Quatre is much too sensitive and observant..._ "What do you mean?" she decided to feign ignorance.

He looked down at her worriedly. Somehow, he knew she was hiding something, but he was not one to pry.

She caught his look. "Quatre, I'm fine. Don't worry about me."

"All right, Relena. But if you ever need someone to talk to, I'm here."

"Thank you," she said politely but curtly. She sped up her walk to approach the Senators, signifying the end of their conversation. It was not going in a direction she was comfortable with.

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AN: Estimated number of chapters bumped up from ten to fourteen. Rating to go up in chapter 8, just to be on the safe side; will give another heads-up just before posting. Much thanks to all reviewers, both new and repeats. You guys keep me going. 


	6. Chapter 6: Hopeful Heart

AN: First of all, let me say thank you to Kuroi Koneko for catching several grave mistakes of the same nature and even taking such note as where exactly each instance occurred. Your meticulousness is admirable! And to Gundamgirl818, thank you for the extensive review offering constructive criticism. Your point is wholly valid, and I am disappointed that I had not seen that detail myself. But I do stand by what I wrote, and I will not change it, because it came from my heart. I'm just so grateful that I am lucky enough to have such dedicated readers who not only just read my work but also look deeper and put it into their own context. And finally, to RedLion2, I have to say that you are just slightly mistaken; Trowa and Relena are simply good friends. I, too, am a devoted Heero/Relena fan. In this fic, and in my mind, she will never be paired with anyone else. A very important point to clear up. : ) Thank you, all readers and reviewers.

Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam Wing.

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Relena flitted around the room like some sort of luminescent hummingbird. Here and there she stopped to speak with delegates and politicians - anyone who was any kind of a mover-and-shaker on the political scene. She liked to have roots in every corner and allies on every side. 

As the evening progressed, and Relena's obligations were fulfilled one by one, the atmosphere of the great hall became decidedly light-hearted. The people truly were enjoying themselves; Quatre's wine and delicacies made many laps around the room upon large silver platters supported on the arms of waiters, Trowa's streamers still confounded the guests with their mystery, and Duo had climbed onto a table to make a fool of himself, much to the amusement and appall of the dignified gentlemen and ladies.

When the orchestra began to play the waltz, almost everybody paired up immediately, though the few people who remained off of the dance floor could boast some rather impressive company - Wufei Chang, Sally Po, Trowa Barton, Heero Yuy, and Relena Peacecraft herself. Wufei would not suffer the weakness of asking anyone, let alone Sally, to dance. Trowa stood sipping his wine, watching the room with cool eyes, unaffected by the looks of longing from the ladies to the side. Heero glared at any and everyone who so much as looked in his direction. He was in no mood to dance tonight. It would remind him too much of an incident six years ago, when he had waltzed with a girl in a blue dress. Relena had gotten many offers to dance, but, not wanting anyone to draw any conclusions based on "seems," had abstained from the first one. Besides, it was her duty as hostess to oversee the party and make sure everyone was having a good time before enjoying herself.

As for the other two Gundam pilots, Quatre and Duo, they had gone to the middle of the dance floor as soon as the first strains of the melody was played. Quatre took Dorothy there on his arm, but Duo, by contrast, got Hilde to get up with him by dragging her by the hand. She tried to pull her arm back from him, but he only laughed and trudged on through the sea of suits, prize in tow. His inhibition was more than slightly embarrassing, but also extremely infectious, so that soon Hilde was laughing openly as her boyfriend spun her around the floor happily.

When the first song ended and the second began, Wufei sighed and held his hand out to Sally silently.

"What's this?" said Sally, with an expression of great amusement on her face.

Wufei sighed, "Us. Dance." He would not even ask her properly, but Sally knew that this was already a monumental step for him.

She laid her hand in his, but she said clearly and smugly, "I win."

"This does not mean you win, Onna," he growled, "I just don't like to be missing out." Sally laughed at him and went along, but she made a mental note to continue making fun of him for this later.

Seeing them go off, Trowa stepped beside Relena and said, "Everyone's having fun but you. Would you like to dance?"

Relena looked up at him and saw one of his green eyes twinkling friendly. She smiled and nodded. He held out his arm for her, which she took, and together they went to the dance floor.

Only Heero was left.

Heero was always left. That was the way it went for him. That was the way he made it for himself.

Relena danced with her dear friend joyfully. When the dance ended and one of her politician colleagues asked to cut in, she was sorry to let go. Bracing herself for her politician's duty of sharing herself with everyone else, she composed her delicate features into passivity and went with the government big wig. It was in these situations that dancing became a pathetic chore. One after another they came and asked for her. Was there no end to it all?

Nearly an hour later, the conductor announced that the next dance would be the last of this first segment. Relena's mood instantly brightened up. The prospects of resting from the mundane activity of Politician Swinging and of returning to spend some time with her friends again drew a small smile on her face. It was then, when her beautiful face showed an expression of relief and contentment, that Relena suddenly felt a hand on her lower back. She stiffened as her heart gave a jolt and sped up markedly by a thought that jumped unbidden into her head like a lightning bolt. _Heero!_ She spun around, tilting her head back to meet the Prussian blue eyes in the face above the broad chest.

From beneath the shock of brown hair a pair of storm-gray eyes looked down at her face with fierce intensity. _Gray eyes?_ She gasped and took a step back.

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AN: The deep breath before the plunge... 


	7. Chapter 7: Unexpected Disaster

AN: Thanks to all my reviewers. Angel of Mirth and gundampilotX24, its good to hear from you for the first time. Your encouragements are so heartening, I really hope to hear more from you soon.

So many people have reviewed, asking who Gray Eyes is. This chapter, I am excited to reveal to you... an original character...

Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam Wing.

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He was tall. He was well-built. He was as young as she herself. He was brunette. He was handsome. And he was not Heero Yuy. 

"May I have this dance?" He asked her formally, bowing regally and extending his gloved hand.

Caught off guard, she automatically placed her hand into his outstretched one with no other thought than how much he resembled the former pilot of Wing Zero. He smiled dazzlingly down at her as he drew her close and began to lead the dance. Relena was struck by how handsome he was.

"Miss Peacecraft, allow me to introduce myself. My name is Dekedenz Cocytus. I have been watching you for quite some time, and I can't begin to tell you how much I admire your work. The way you hold the entire world in your hand and cradle it in peace is something that I greatly admire and hope to also accomplish someday."

"Thank you." She studied his face carefully before venturing, "Cocytus? As in Cocytus Corp., the maker of high-tech, high-power jets and space shuttles?"

He inclined his head in another small bow, a signal in the affirmative.

Relena smiled brightly, relaxing noticeably. "Then I am very pleased to make your acquaintance. Your company has been a powerful and steadfast ally in our endeavor to keep the peace between Earth and the colonies."

"You are mistaken," replied Dekedenz, flashing her another breath-taking smile, "the pleasure, I assure you, is all mine." There was a strange gleam in his ash-colored eyes.

They waltzed together for a few more minutes, exchanging pleasantries and other civilities. The more they spoke, the more Relena found she liked this Dekedenz. He was sinfully handsome, no one could miss that fact. He reminded her so much of Heero, but at the same time he was so different. The most marked difference is his courtesy and attention to her. He always answered her fully, and with impeccable manners, so that conversation with the young corporate executive was refreshingly pleasant. In the back of her mind, she wondered why, with all her connections and obligations, she had never had the occasion to meet him before tonight. As the Vice-Foreign Minister, her network of acquaintances and colleagues was as extensive and impressive as a Gundam pilot's fighting skills. But Dekedenz... it was like he had just appeared out of nowhere.

When the last strains of the waltz reverberated on the air before dying out, and every other couple was breaking apart, Relena moved to pull back and thank her dancing partner but found that she couldn't. Dekedenz did not relinquish his tight hold on her. Before she could open her mouth to speak, Relena realized that the room had darkened, there was a dense, milky spotlight thrown onto the two of them, and that everybody in the room was looking at them. She turned to him to ask him what the meaning of it all was, but he was not standing before her anymore. No, he was kneeling now on one knee, and he was reaching into his jacket.

_What's going on?_ Bewildered, Relena could only look on as Dekedenz pulled out a large crimson, velvet jewelry box. She felt her eyes grow wide with shock. She tried to move away but she was frozen, paralyzed. For a split second, she registered that all the Gundam pilots, including Heero, must be watching this scene play out. But it lasted only a split second before it vanished, chased out of her consciousness by the opening of the box.

It was a brilliant, dazzling, impossibly beautiful diamond necklace.

"Relena," Dekedenz began, "I've only introduced myself today, but I've admired you and loved you from far away for six long years. We are so compatible, and I know I can make you happy. Will you do me the honor of granting me your hand in marriage?"

Speechless. Utter hush permeated the entire great hall, the air was thicker than any gas should be, impenetrable as Gundanium alloy. Everyone held their breath, just as shocked by this unexpected event and all waiting silently to see what she would do.

Finally, Relena found some of her voice. In a choking, breathless whisper, she tried to express herself. "Dekedenz Cocytus, I... we... I've just met you... I can't..." She stared down into his storm-gray eyes. They were so intense, almost like _his_. A strange voice spoke in her head, _It's a good match. Politically and personally._ And the kind, polite part of her did not have the heart to refuse him outright in front of the hundreds of important public figures. It was a humiliation that nobody deserved, no matter how hasty and inappropriate was his proposal. "I can't... give you an answer just now... I need... some time."

Dekedenz Cocytus' expression lit up. It was the answer he had been hoping for, been counting on. "How much time?" he asked her, just as he had planned.

Relena hesitated. Then, reluctantly, "Three days."

He rose from his kneel to stand imperiously before her once again. Taking the diamond necklace from the case, he said, "Very well. But until then, please, wear this as a token of my affection and admiration. By no means is this a seal." She stood there fearfully, trembling slightly as he enveloped her with his arms, reaching to clasp the necklace behind her neck. The click that the latch made as it stuck fast seemed to resonate throughout the room with some mysterious sense of finality. Relena reached up with her left hand to touch the necklace lightly, clearly dazed by the event that had just transpired. She felt like she had just witnessed this from another vantage point, outside of her body; it was as if she had no control over what had happened. The beautiful necklace might very well have been a collar, a choker.

The entire room erupted in applause and cheers. What did they know? To them, a beautiful, influential young woman had just been proposed to by a handsome, wealthy corporate head. And she had not said "no." It was not a "yes," but it was not a "no" either, and that was good enough for them. What did they know? They knew nothing.

The Gundam pilots and the three young women stood there, eyes wide and staring, equally taken by surprise. Hilde, Sally, and Dorothy stood frozen in place. Their expressions were those of incredulous awe. Trowa, who was usually expressionless in the face of any danger or surprise, had lifted both eyebrows and gaped just slightly. Duo's jaw was dropped as low as humanly possible. Wufei blinked rapidly. Quatre watched with sad eyes and shook his head dejectedly. The master tactician of all battlefields, both warring and political, already knew what this would mean. A distance away, Heero was not breathing. He had his hands clenched so tightly into fists that his knuckles turned white and was devoting all his strength to shooting both of them his death glare. Except it was not the normal death glare. It was more of a rip-you-apart-with-bare-hands-and-riddle-your-corpses-with-bullets glare. Only one word was able to form in his head._Impossible._

The clapping and cheering still had not stopped. Suddenly overwhelmed with emotions and a dire need to escape, Relena mumbled a quick "Excuse me," and walked as quickly as she could out of the great hall before she would collapse in front of the entire party. The applause slowly died down, and the people returned to their friends and colleagues, conversing undoubtedly about the marriage proposal. In less than one hour, it would be the talk of the entire human race throughout the Earth, on every colony, and across the vastness of space. Dekedenz Cocytus smiled smugly and turned to walk confidently out of the hall.

Relena's friends turned to look at each other with disbelief. Had that really happened? Nobody knew what to say, how to react. They had all heard Relena's reply - she hadn't said "no."

Trowa was the first to shake himself out of shock. "We have to report this to Une." He had heard the man's name. "Dekedenz Cocytus." Wufei nodded his agreement. His instincts told him this was serious.

Quatre, himself a politician, felt his head reel just from _beginning_ to think about the political implications. Vice-Foreign Minister and Former Queen of the World Relena Darlian Peacecraft... married? What kind of power would this union afford unto her husband?

Duo could only utter a helpless and betrayed, "Princess..." and then his thoughts turned to Heero. _Oh man, Heero... what's he going to do now? _He knew him all too well. _This is going to be ugly._ "Heero," he spoke out loud, and fear lit up the eyes of all eight people. They finally understood the disaster that this Dekedenz guy had created – a disaster greater than anything the political world ever had to worry about; the disaster that is incurring the wrath of Heero Yuy. They turned here and there, looking for him, but he was no where to be found. They were too late.

Heero had seen Relena leave. Rage clouded his mind and shrouded his vision with red. The Perfect Soldier who prided himself on not having emotions was drowning in a fathomless ocean of jealousy and anger. _She had been offered a proposal. And she did not refuse. She left it open. There's a possibility._ He growled savagely. _I'll show her. I'll show her. _And with that, he took off purposefully after her.

Far ahead, he saw the door to her room click shut. Two seconds later, Heero Yuy turned the same knob and slipped inside.

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AN: Please, tell me what you think. I'm always eager to read your reviews. Oh, and that rating change? It's here. When I post chapter 8, I will also change the rating to "M." This thing is getting real dark, real fast. Please, let me know now if a rating increase is all right by you guys; if you'd rather this story remain at "T," then I can change the course. But please tell me, if that's the case. Thank you, all readers and reviewers. 


	8. Chapter 8: So Cruel

AN: The rating has been raised from "T" to "M" just in case. To Angel of Mirth, I am so sorry about having to drop off of your C2: _Without Deviation_. I went there; it's a good collection, and I'm honored that you even considered my story. But the story that's taking shape heads down a different road, and it won't be changed. Perhaps, I might be honored again that a future story I write could make it into your C2. But thank you just the same.

Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam Wing.

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She was standing at the edge of her large four-poster bed, the curtains of which were tied up in such a way as to frame her almost protectively. There was a large glass double-door in the far wall that led to the balcony. It was slightly ajar, and the night breeze that wafted in to caress the room's original occupant carried upon it the fragrance of the night-blooming jasmine and stirred the sheer, gauzy curtains into a delicate dance. The flowing material of her dress rippled around her bare feet, sympathetic to the lonely twirling of the window curtains. The full moon in the sky bathed a patch of the plush carpet and half of the bed with liquid silver. Her face was upturned to the icy maiden, an expression of imploring in her eyes. The tears, shimmering in the light of the moon, clung to her long, soft eyelashes or rolled hastily down first one cheek then the other. It would have made a perfect picture of serenity, if only the elegantly beautiful young woman were not clutching her forearms so tightly as she sobbed quietly.

A shadow that slipped silently into the room approached her from behind. Suddenly, she felt him there and spun around to face the one who intruded on her personal space and her personal sorrow.

In the blink of an eye, he pinned her against the wall, his broad chest and strong arms allowing her no possibility of escape. Relena lifted her tear-stained, still-shimmering face to look at him with wide eyes that betrayed her confusion and alarm. She could neither understand why he was so close to her nor the way her own body was reacting. His close proximity drove all clear thoughts flying out of her head and heated her blood.

"What... are you doing?" She breathed barely audibly, undeniably frightened. He looked down at her with eyes burning intensely and pressed his body against hers. She gasped softly, and his eyes narrowed with a gleam that made him look even more like a predator. She could never have imagined that his body felt like this. Even with their clothes keeping skin from touching skin, it was impossible to miss the hardness of his body and the definition of his muscles. Never, never could she have imagined. It was like some sort of forbidden bliss, the feeling of this body of his. _Could he feel me too?_ The hopeful thought flickered like a candle's flame before she gave in wholly to the sensation that swamped her entire being. However, the flooded consciousness at the back of her mind could not shake the threatening, violent undertone that she could only vaguely detect, but not pinpoint.

In truth he could feel her. And it drove him on. He placed his hands on her minuscule waist, bent his head down, and captured her parted lips possessively. Her second kiss. This time, his mouth was insistent, not gentle. This time, his mouth was passionate, not innocent. This time, his tongue darted out to lick her delicate lips before plunging into her hot, moist mouth. Her eyes flew open and she threw back her head as she gave a cry of surprise at the sudden, intimate intrusion. He took her cry into his mouth, never pausing in his attack, refusing to relinquish his hold on her.

Helpless; she had never felt so helpless, she thought, and she steadied her hands on his chest. Weak; she had never felt so weak, she realized, and her legs gave out beneath her. She would have fallen to the floor in a crumpled heap if it weren't for the two hands on her hips holding her in place and a hard thigh pressing up between – For the third time in seconds, a cry of astonishment ripped uncontrollably out of her mouth.

He broke of the kiss with a feral growl to watch her expression as he thrust his thigh between her legs and pressed up against her intimately. Genuinely terrified now, she trembled at the impropriety, the vulnerability, and tried to push him away, to get off of his leg, but her movements only let her slide a few inches up his thigh.

"Ride it," he growled, and pushed forward so that she slid up its length, almost reaching his crotch. She grabbed his shoulders and whimpered at the strange sensation exploding in her abdomen produced by his action. He pushed again, drawing another small noise and this time a response. He looked down at the expression of helplessness and pleasure on her face as her body moved of its own accord back and forth against his thigh and smirked darkly. There was no way after this that she could deny the effect he had on her. No way in hell.

Up and down. Up and down. He let her ride him for a few more strokes, reveling in her fluttering eyelids and the way she had succumbed to his attack, before he realized that he himself was in danger of losing control. It was almost too late, but the swift, analytical mind of a perfect soldier took the time to wonder for a split second how, in just a few short minutes and with no direct contact at all, she was still managing to bring him right up to the brink.

At the last possible moment he stepped away. She thrust up for what would have been the completing stroke – but met only air. She gave a heart-wrenching cry of frustration at the same moment that her unsteady legs folded beneath her and she collapsed onto the ground. Lying on her side, she drew her legs up closely in the fetal position and moved her arms to hug herself tightly around the waist. The unrelieved tension in her body that had been building so close to Something immediately translated itself into physical pain. The area between her legs throbbed achingly, her body felt empty and numb, and she knew she had been toyed with and humiliated. _How could he be so cruel_?_ How?_

What she didn't know was that she was not the only victim of his cruel game. Heero stood a few steps away, struggling for control with hands clenched into fists and feet shoulder width apart for stability as his entire body trembled. He hadn't counted on it, wouldn't have believed it if someone had told him beforehand, but her whimpers of pleasure, her closeness to his crotch, and her maddening heat and moisture on his thigh had almost sent him to his own climax.

The clock on the wall ticked away the seconds silently. The room was deathly still; there was no movement from the broken, hurting form on the ground or the rigid, shaken figure a few steps away. The only signs of life were the sounds of his ragged breathing and her soft whimpers, coming from opposite sides of the room.

_What's wrong with you! _growled a savage voice in his head. _Get out! NOW! _Angry at himself for almost allowing his body to lose control, that body that was supposed to be wholly and completely under his control as a living weapon, Heero ran swiftly and soundlessly to the open balcony door and launched himself off the railing, slipping out of sight into the thick, black night.

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AN: Thank you all readers and reviewers. This chapter was hard for me to write, and I apologize for its shortness. 


	9. Chapter 9: Blinding Truth

AN: Well, here I am, in the "M" section. I think, by moving here, I lost a few of my usual readers and reviewers, and I'm really sorry. But I also found new reviewers – or, rather, they found me – and I'm really glad. To everyone, if you could kindly drop me a review, you would let me know that you're still with me, and I would appreciate your support so much. I kind of miss reading reviews from familiar names.

Oh, and RedLion2? You're absolutely right. He was quite abusive (which is no laughing matter), and although I don't think Relena would fear him now – she didn't fear him when he lunged at her with Wing's giant shield thing – she is definitely very shaken and upset. You will see just how deeply she is affected by all this in the next few chapters. I hope to hear from you again; I'd love to know what insights you have regarding this chapter.

Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam Wing.

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Her breathing was ragged, strained, panting-sobs. Her eyes were blinded by her tears, and the blood and the wind howled fiercely in competition in her ears, but the only thing she knew was the pounding of her bare feet on the forest floor. The burning in her chest was nothing to her. The leaves and her own golden hair teamed up to slap at her face, but she paid them no mind. Occasionally she would stumble on the gnarled roots and broken stones, but she always hurtled on, her unbroken stride a tragic cadence.

Away. She had to run away. Away from the people, away from her home, away from her friends, away from _him_. There was no other way.

Ever since she recovered enough on the floor of her room to form some coherent thoughts, she had known.

Pulling herself up onto unsteady legs, she half-walked, half-crawled to the balcony. The very same one? Yes, but she had not known that. It was only clear that she could not go through the house, where everybody would see her, in order to reach the doors.

With no more sense of self-preservation, she leaned blindly over the railing and dropped from the balcony. Fortunately, it was not impossibly far of a fall, and the soft grasses of the garden cushioned her impact. Only the darling buds of the flower bed, not yet even bloomed, were crushed – the necessary casualties of her war.

And then she took off.

There was a forest behind her mansion. Its vastness helped to maintain the reasonable seclusion from the media. Its great trees, centuries old, sheltered everything under its spreading branches. It was to them, and the darkness they harbored, that Relena went to seek her refuge from the cruelness of men; of life. Above her, the stars of outer space dimmed infinitesimally in sympathy. They all felt it – the tiny bit of their sister's heart, their sister star who had come down to Earth to light the way for all humanity, had been destroyed.

She ran thus, in no direction at all in the pitch black of the forest's night, sprinting at full speed for close to twenty minutes. Her labored pants, each a desperate bid for air, carried her voice broken by sobs into the still night air. She was getting light-headed, and she hoped she would collapse. Blacking-out would be her greatest desire. She yearned for its relief. To black out. Forget... Leave...

Just as she sank onto her knees and was about to give in to the merciful beckoning void, her world exploded in a blinding explosion of light – Light so white it was a whole new color; Light so bright it burned its way into her soul and scorched her. She heard warped, garbled electronic voices that made no sense. Crying out, she tried to shield her eyes with her arm while at the same time making out who it was that blinded her. Squinting into this new white void, she could only discern several figures running about. Twenty, maybe twenty-five. Were those guns they were carrying? Large hands gripped her roughly on the upper arm. They hauled her to her feet, handcuffed her, gagged her roughly. Already weakened, she attempted to fight them off, but her flagging struggles were only mild annoyances to the soldiers. They struck her harshly across the face, creating an explosion of colorful stars behind her eyelids and inducing a red welt in the shape of a large hand on her cheek. The force of their punch, and the way she reeled from it, tore the diamond necklace from her throat. Dekedenz Cocytus' engagement gift fell from the angel and landed on the dirt - all that remained of the stolen princess as nameless soldiers threw her unceremoniously into a small high-powered jet and took her away.

-----

The four remaining Gundam pilots and their three female friends were standing or seated in various locations around Trowa's room. They had retreated there when both Relena and Heero had left the ball. Trowa's first priority was to report this new development to Commander Une. Sitting at the desk, he typed out the memo on his laptop with blazing speed and sent it flying to Preventer Headquarters before the thin red second hand on the clock even ticked five times. Then he wheeled his chair around to face the rest of the room.

"The guy's name is Dekedenz Cocytus. Who is he?" he questioned in an even voice.

Quatre sat in the armchair by the window, his own laptop open before him. He had been doing an extensive background search on the man. His fingers flew across the keyboard just as quickly, but the faster they danced, the deeper he frowned. "There's nothing on him, other than the fact that he's the head of Cocytus Corp., a jet-manufacturing company. No documents, no history, no media coverage, no past. Nothing." He sounded very worried.

A thoughtful silence, thick as the mountain fog, permeated the room. Then, from the foot of Trowa's bed, Dorothy spoke up.

"That's interesting..." she mumbled vaguely. Her brow was furrowed in concentration.

"What is? What's interesting?" Duo tilted his head back to look up at her from his comfortable seat on the floor, his back leaning against the bed.

"Cocytus..." she replied, eyes not looking at him but staring unfocused at a point of space about three feet directly in front of her face. Her concentration brought a faraway look into her expression. "It sounds familiar... somehow."

Duo looked at Hilde, who sat cross-legged in the middle of the bed. She shrugged and looked at Sally. "Anyone heard it anywhere before?" he put the question out.

"Hell." It was Trowa's voice.

"What?" said Duo, rather loudly. "Look, Tro, if you don't know that's ok, but you don't have to curse in front of these lovely la-"

"Hell. The Underworld. In Dante's _The Inferno_, Cocytus was the name of the ninth and innermost circle of Hell." His voice was monotone and his expression blank, one green eye covered by his hair. "Located right next to Lucifer, King of the Underworld," he added as an afterthought.

Everyone stared at him in amazement.

"O...k..." ventured Duo. "So we've got that. Mr. Ninth-Circle-of-Hell. How convenient."

"That's not all." It was Sally this time, speaking from the edge of the bed, near the nightstand.

Wufei joined in from his standing vigil by the door, back pressed to the wall, arms crossed, head dropped, and eyes closed. "Dekedenz," he continued Sally's thought. She nodded once, gravely.

"It's just a funny name," said Duo.

Wufei snapped opened his black eyes to look at him piercingly. "It's _not_ just a funny name, Maxwell. Decadence - ever heard it before?"

Duo shook his head.

Sally's turn. "Decadence: mental or moral decline; decay."

"Perversion. Corruption. Debasement. Degeneration. Dissipation. Dissolution," Wufei ticked off his fingers one by one before his face. Index, middle, ring, pinky, thumb, index. "EVIL," he finished firmly with a pointed look at the American pilot, ending with his middle finger.

Duo gaped at him with his mouth wide open, not quite catching the whole meaning of what had just happened. "Whoa... No way," he breathed incredulously.

"This guy sounds like bad news," said Hilde, worry flooding her tone, "Is he for real?"

"Filthy rich, no past, crazy name, proposed to Miss Relena..." Dorothy shook her head sullenly. "Yeah, I'd say so."

Quatre closed the lid of his laptop sorrowfully. "We've got to watch out for this guy, keep a close eye on him. Who knows what he's got in mind?" They all nodded in agreement.

Suddenly, Duo lept up from the carpeted floor. "Oh my god!" he yelled, "You don't think–?... Une's memo?" Everyone looked at him. One second. Two seconds. Click. Comprehension, and great fear, dawned on their faces. "We've got to tell Heero."

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AN: Thanks to all who read this and all who review this. 


	10. Chapter 10: Back

AN: Thanks for all your support and encouragements. I'm sorry to say, though, that subsequent chapters will be posted at increasing intervals. I'm sorry to disappoint you all by making you wait longer, but we have arrived at significant phase in the story, and it is getting harder and harder to write. I will work hard, but I will need more time. Just thought I'd let you all know. Hope the coming chapters will be worth the wait though.

Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam Wing.

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When Heero vaulted off of Relena's bedroom balcony, he landed noiselessly in a crouching roll. Coming to a crouching stop, with one knee on the dewy grass and the other bent so that his foot was planted firmly on the ground, he whipped out his gun. _Old habits keep you from dying_, he thought, sensing that there was no other living creature stirring in the nighttime garden. Then he sprang up, much like a sprinter would as he takes off from the starting block, but still with all the grace and all the power of a wild animal on the hunt. 

He reached the guests' wing of the mansion, which was located on the far side, in only one minute and eighteen seconds. His gaze climbed the wall, eyes narrowing dangerously as he sought out his window on the third floor. Target acquired, he tucked the gun in the back of his jeans' waistband and proceeded to scale the brick surface.

Exactly three minutes, or one hundred eighty seconds, after he bolted from Relena's room, he was standing in his own room, breathing hard, running his hand through his unruly brown hair. He waited a moment for his raging emotions to calm down. But instead of quieting into a haze that might at least let thoughts pass through, it did just the opposite; his physical inactivity only accentuated the sound of his rapid panting and the incessant pounding of his heart, which served to anger him all the more. In the swirling chaos of emotions that had commandeered his mind, only two words were clear. _Mission FAILED_.

He clenched his jaw, growled savagely, and did the only thing he could do; he punched the wall. His fist made a sound resembling a miniature but still violent explosion as it collided with the wall. When Perfect bones and muscles and skin met mortar and plaster, it was the former that split open but the latter that gave in.

Within a few short seconds, the other Gundam pilots had broken down the door. They stared wordlessly at the fist-shaped hole in the wall, complete with four smaller knuckle dents, and the cracked and crumbling plaster that fanned out from it in a two feet radius.

The tormented man rounded on his intruders, gun cocked and finger on the trigger. He swept the group with the sighter at the end of the barrel, pointing the death-bringing instrument at each of them in turn. Duo, Quatre, and Wufei yanked the girls behind their own bodies, shielding them from the unstable Gundam pilot as they pushed them out the door.

"Get out," the former pilot of Wing Zero rasped harshly in a voice that sounded like it belonged to a dead man. His fist was still clenched by his side, but it was openly dripping blood.

"Dude, what's your problem?" Duo voiced loudly. Only he and three other men in the world could stare down the barrel of Heero Yuy's gun. However, all he earned in the way of a reply was a cold, steely glare, the fixation of the gun at his head right in between his eyes, and the tightening of the finger on the trigger. Despite himself, he gulped.

"Heero, we need to talk to you about Relena," Quatre began with a different approach. He hoped that the mention of the Vice Foreign Minister would calm him down. He was sorely mistaken.

"Don't talk to me about her!" he spat, still keeping his gun, and his glare, on Duo.

"She's in danger." The blond Arab was brave and persistent. "That man, Dekedenz Cocytus, is not who he seems."

Heero scoffed bitterly. "What, you mean Relena's husband?" He turned to fix his piercing eyes on Quatre. The hand holding the gun had not moved. "He's everything she could ever want."

"She hasn't married him, Heero. In fact, she hasn't even accepted his proposal yet." Quatre was taking it slowly and carefully. He could clearly sense Heero's agitation regarding the subject. It was almost as if this was the thing that was bothering him so much. "And we cannot allow her to. He's the head of the faction that Une briefed us about. He's out to harm Relena."

Heero looked at him blankly, with nothing on his face except a look of detachment.

"You saw what happened tonight," Trowa joined in.

"You're talking about that marriage proposal? Yeah, I saw," he laughed mirthlessly. It was a chilling sound. "And you know what? She'll accept, too. I know she will." Then, in a softer, slower, and exponentially more dangerous whisper, "I've made it so."

"What do you mean by that, Yuy?" demanded Wufei, incensed by his lack of honor.

"What have you done to her? Where is she?" Trowa was still the most collected, most sensible one of them all. He asked the only question that mattered right then.

Heero chuckled darkly, as if at some private joke. "In her room." _On her floor._

Trowa spun on his heel and dashed off to find Relena. Wufei, Quatre, and Duo, by some unspoken understanding, had remained to guard their unstable comrade.

-----

Urgent, heavy pounding on Relena's door. Feeling the severity of the situation, the former Heavyarms pilot, who had never yelled through a door before, found himself calling her name. There was no response from behind the door, and the acrobat's acute senses detected no movement in the room. There was a chill racing up his spine that told him something was wrong. He took two steps back and rammed his shoulder into the heavy oak door, which burst open with a snapping crunch.

The room was dark and empty. Both of the glass door leading to the balcony were wide open, the pallid gossamer curtains before them fluttered hauntingly in the breeze.

He was too late!

Trowa only stayed long enough to note the freezing temperature of the bedroom. The door had been open like that for a long time; _Relena _had been gone for a long time.

-----

When he returned to Heero's room, he was not really surprised to find three guns trained on Heero, safeties removed. He still hadn't lowered his yet. He could easily shoot one of them, and probably get two if he really wanted, but the third and remaining Gundam pilot would take him down.

"She's gone." Straight to the point.

"What!" all the Gundam pilots turned to him. Even Heero had given him his attention.

He didn't repeat himself, knowing they had all heard him clearly. "A long time ago."

This seemed to wake Heero up. He had a strange pained expression on his face, as if he were struggling with something deep within himself.

_He got her. You caused this. Some Perfect Soldier you are; she gets to you and you give her up to the enemy. Worthless!_ His fists shook irrepressibly. He was torn between his mission as a soldier and a Preventer, which demanded he secure her safety; what he had just done to hurt her, which screamed at him to stay away from her forever; and his own convoluted feelings toward her, which thoroughly pummeled any ounce of conviction, one way or the other, that he had left in his consciousness. It was then that his subconsciousness rose up, the part of him that nothing could ever destroy; it was a part of him as surely as he drew breath, as he existed in this world, and it linked him to her. _Fix it! GET HER BACK!_ He looked up to the other Gundam pilots. They had all turned their backs to him, poised to run out the door and to Relena's room, but they stopped to look at him. His eyes narrowed in determination. There was a new mission – a _real_ mission, and failure was not an option. What were they all waiting for? Snapping out of the haze that held him for the past three years, he uncocked his gun and sprinted for Relena's room, the other four pilots falling in place close behind him.

Gundam pilot 01 was back.

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AN: Thanks to all who read this and all who take the time to review this. 


	11. Chapter 11: Secret Surrendered

AN: Hope I didn't make you wait too long. Thanks for your understanding, everyone, and please continue to be patient for the next chapter. And welcome aboard, Lady Priestess. : )

Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam Wing.

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The five young men burst into Relena's room, where the iciness of the atmosphere and the blatant emptiness of the quarters stopped them dead in their tracks. He was back. It was only mere minutes ago that Heero had let himself in unasked-for, hurt her – hurt her so much, and ran away. In his mind, he could not shake the conviction that the uninhabitable arctic chill of the room was a phenomenon that he had imparted, the very contents of his soul that he had siphoned out and left for Relena like a farewell gift. 

"She's really gone," murmured Quatre.

"No sign of struggle, break-in," stated Trowa objectively as he scanned the room. Everything was intact and in place. Her sheets had not one wrinkle in them; the papers on her desk were neatly stacked and filed; even her hairbrush, her earrings, and other small jewelry and toiletries were still partitioned meticulously across the top of her dresser, just below the large ornate antique mirror. The sheer curtains danced ephemerally between them and the rest of the night world.

Then, years of honed battle experience and sixth senses synchronized, all five pilots knew at once. Balcony! Five shadows ran out the glass doors and five figures dropped noiselessly to the grass three stories below.

"There!" exclaimed Duo, pointing to the dewy grass before them. A set of footprints, small and delicate, could be discerned heading in the direction of the forest. Relena was already fleet and light; and with feet bare, she left hardly any tracks in the springy emerald turf. But a few bent blades of grass were enough for the highly-trained eyes of the Gundam pilots. They took off at top speed, guns in hand, Heero taking the lead once again, eyes fixed on the tracks. Duo ran just one step behind him, lending his own eyes and helping him to stay on the trail. Trowa, Quatre, and Wufei followed, flanking each side and covering the rear... eyes, ears, and that sixth soldiers' sense straining to detect the slightest disturbance. They were in battle formation; Although this was Relena's grounds, the air had never tasted more like enemy territory.

Up ahead, the dark eaves of the forest loomed closer and closer. One quick glance to the ground was enough to confirm that the footprints led straight into the darkest tangles. Eyes narrowing in determination, Heero plunged into the thicket. The others were only half a heart beat behind. There was significantly less light here under the spreading branches, and what little patches of moonlight that filtered through the leaves only revealed damp forest floor besotted with tree roots and fallen leaves. The trail of footprints was gone.

But Heero did not stop in his pursuit. True, there was no longer a visible trail to guide him, but that was unnecessary at this point. Knowing her so very well, he guessed that she would plow on in a relatively straight path. He highly doubted that her primary concern was to throw any trackers instead of getting as far away as possible. And wait! What was that in the air? It was faint, almost undetectable, but it was there. Traces of an elegant, feminine fragrance was being carried on the still, nighttime air. It was not that strident, obscenely floral perfume that so many girls liked to use. Instead, it was soft, sweet, and kind – if scents could be called such – perfectly suited to Relena Peacecraft. And it beckoned. Relena had definitely gone this way, and Heero Yuy was predator once again.

The deeper into the forest they ran, the more undeniable was the sense that something was terribly wrong. Gradually, their sprinting slowed to a jog, which then became a brisk walking pace before they came to a complete halt. They needed to analyze the surroundings before they proceeded blindly again. The five young men stood there, breathing hard but breathing softly (heavy panting got you noticed, which got you killed). They remained positioned in a group, far enough apart to each survey different parts of the forest but close enough to communicate in a low, uncarrying voice.

"This is quite deep into the forest. She couldn't have gone much farther," said Wufei, as he knelt to study a small low-growing plant with trampled leaves.

"Something is very wrong," said Trowa, the one visible green eye glinting metallically. His senses were never wrong.

"The animals– listen! The air is as still as a tomb's. No birds calling, no small animals scurrying... not even an insect chirping!" Quatre, ever the one most in-tuned with nature, understood more than anybody that animals know precisely when things were askew.

"Oh man," said Duo.

Heero narrowed his eyes. He had felt it too, that chill in his bones. He started walking again, determined to find any sign of Relena.

A few more steps brought them in sight of a small clearing. Heero's breath hitched in his chest before he sprinted forward. _Relena must be there! _He ran faster. _She'd be kneeling on the grass, or lying by the trees' roots, weeping... But she'd be there! _He tore through a tangle of low branches. _We'll pick her up, shake some sense into her, and shuffle her back into the mansion, where Cocytus wouldn't be able to reach her... And she'd be safe! _He plowed through a net of dried brambles. _She'd be– _He and the other four pilots burst into the little open space, and froze.

The moonlight that doused the treeless patch illuminated every inch of its ground. And Relena was not here. There was no mistaking it. Heero felt a growl of frustration rise in his throat. He had been so sure she would be here! He opened his mouth to curse when something caught his eye.

It was on the grass, at the center of the clearing, and it was shining as brightly as any star in the heavens. He approached it slowly, horror gnawing at the pit of his stomach. He knew the moment he caught its glimmer precisely what it was, and yet he did not allow his mind to register it. He was afraid to acknowledge it, as if confirming it would mean no turning back. But at the back of his mind he knew; knew what it was, knew why it was there, and knew what it meant.

Dropping to his knees in the soft, damp grass, he cupped the small cluster of stars stringed together with ductile light and raised it up to his face. It was Relena's necklace. And from the looks of the wrenched clasp, it had been torn from her throat; but Heero could not think about that right then. He couldn't think about anything except how brightly the necklace shone. The ghostly moonlight was drawn, as if by magic, into the stones, which threw it back out magnified a thousand-fold so that the light was not ghostly anymore but a brilliant fiery gleam. Did all of Relena's possessions put life into the lifeless? And when did diamonds acquire the ability to shine so brightly as to blur the vision and make the eyes sting? Oh. They were tears. He flinched at that realization and blinked them fiercely away. _Just a natural reflex to the unexpected brightness in a dim environment_, he reasoned logically. Never would a tear of Heero Yuy's fall from his Prussian blue eyes.

Six feet behind him, Trowa Barton stood watching him silently.

Suddenly, Duo's voice cut through the thick silence from the edge of the clearing. "Guys, we've got ourselves a big problem." Wufei, Quatre, and Trowa turned to regard the American pilot. Heero stood up, still holding the necklace, but kept his back to his comrades. "There are boot prints. Lots of boot prints. And tire tracks. The grass and the branches of the trees are so messed up that it's hard to tell what exactly was here or where anything went. There might even have been a small jet or something."

"They've taken her," said Wufei, "We were too late." His hands were fisted tightly by his side.

"But how could they have known where she was? How could they have found her?" Quatre's expression was full of sadness. He hated to be too late. It was just as bad as being helpless.

Trowa looked to Heero, but he did not say a word.

The former pilot of Wing Zero clenched his hand around the diamond necklace and felt it digging mercilessly into his palm before he opened his grip to stare at it again. "The necklace," he growled, voice dripping with malice and hatred.

"What?" exclaimed Duo.

"The necklace that Cocytus put on her," he turned to show it to the group, holding it up before them with extended arm so that it gleamed blindingly in the moonlight, mocking their incompetence, "is a tracking device."

There was a moment of stunned silence before Duo released the breath he had been holding with a bitter hiss. "That underhanded sneak! When I get my hands on that son of a–"

"How could this have happened?" Quatre cut in, "We should have known! _I_ should have known..." The blond Arabian had an unhealthy penchant for taking the blame whenever he could, whether the matter was in his control or not. He was far too kind of a person.

"There was no way you, or any of us, could have foreseen this. Right now, the only thing we can do to make things right is to find Relena quickly and bring her back," said the cool and collected former Heavyarms pilot.

"There's nothing left here. We need to take that necklace back and trace its signal. And Une needs to hear of this," Wufei spoke in an equally calm voice. But his head was hung in failure, disgusted with his own weakness. The monumental scope of the disaster was just beginning to sink in.

-----

It was with that special brand of urgency brought on by the heaviest of hearts that the five former Gundam pilots returned to Relena's mansion. It was so strange to be sheltered under her roof now, of all times, when she _herself _was stolen, in danger, and out of reach. The keen sense that they were all intruders here bit at their hearts and tasted of bile in their throats.

This time, the convention point was Quatre's room. On his desk, he and Duo the Sweeper/Small-Parts-Expert examined the necklace and took it apart to isolate the tracking device. Sure enough, cleverly concealed in the largest center stone was the transmitter, unharmed and uninterrupted. This was fortunate for the pilots, for a broken signal would have no means of being restarted and tracked. Focusing their efforts on this tracking signal, the former Gundam pilots set to work discerning its origin.

Six hours later, the sun rose over the horizon to find five stoically determined young men pitting all their skill against their enemy: transmitter technology. Six hours later, by the combined computer skills of Heero, Trowa, Duo, and Wufei, and with the aid of two of Quatre's Winner family satellites, they were able to analyze the signal and trace its transmission path backward. Through the air and back in time the signal led them, until they arrived at the location of the hidden base as of eight hours ago when he gave her the necklace. It was an almost-impossible task, but all things, even time and space, bend to the iron will of the single-minded Gundam pilots.

_Beep._ The computer acknowledged a regional match. _Beep._ The computer homed in on a smaller area. _Beep._ The computer zoomed in to the satellite image of the land. _Beep beep._ The coordinates flashed red at the center of the screen. The necklace had surrendered the position of Cocytus' base.

"Gotcha!" yelled Duo. The machine continued to sound its dim, droning alarm in the background.

Heero did not even spare him a glance. "Wufei, contact Commander Une. Request an immediate transport to the Senne River Base."

* * *

The Senne River Base is something that I just made it up. The Senne River, however, is a real river running between France and Belgium. One of its main tributaries is the Marne River, where, in WWI, an out-manned French army drove back two separate advancing German forces, effectively destroying their Schliffen Plan and saving Paris from invasion. Also, another reason for my choosing the Senne River is because it runs by Belgium, whose capital is Brussels. Wasn't that where Mariemaia held Relena captive in her bunker at the end of Endless Waltz? 

AN: Thanks to all who read this and all who take the time to review this.


	12. Chapter 12: Just Enough to Break

AN: Thanks for your patience. To tell you the truth, I used to be posting at several chapters behind my writing, meaning that if I had just posted chapter 5 let's say, then I'd actually be working on writing chapter 7 or 8. But slowly, I've caught up to myself, so to say. And now, I post this chapter when I have just finished it. Apparently, writing takes longer than I am willing to keep my readers hanging. Now, this means that I will be writing the chapter that is next in line to be posted, so the pace will definitely slow down. And add this to the fact that college is starting in just over a week, and in between the reviewing and the dorm shopping... well, you get the idea. I'll work hard on this though. I really want to squeeze out one more chapter before I take off.

Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam Wing.

* * *

The first thing in the black void of unconsciousness that she became aware of was the pain. The hurt stabbed at certain concentrated areas – her cheek, her abdomen, her legs, her feet – but was so intense and so absolute that it radiated outwards, coursing like molten lava through her entire body; touching every nerve; burning every cell; before finally pooling mercilessly in her brain. It swamped all thought except for the fervent prayer that she would fall through the cold, hard floor and die. 

Then, that thought began to make more sense, and Relena worked to focus on it. Through sheer force of will, she beat back the worst of the pain; the effort was almost a tangible clawing on her part. But she clung to that thought; and the pain became less. And then she began to _understand_ again. She was lying on her side on a cold, hard floor. She knew this material. Digging deep into the dredges of her memory (of a life that seemed so detached that it might have been from another past), a word took form out of the misty vagueness. Concrete. Then, she turned her senses to the air. It, too, was cold, but it was still; and stale. _Where am I?_ Concrete; cold; still; stale... _I'm locked up! But why?_ Thinking back to her last moments of consciousness brought the waning pain back in full force. She cried out softly and clutched her head tightly in her hands as a flood of images assaulted her. Friends, party, necklace, _him!_, pain, running, falling, black, white, white, white...

With a sharp gasp, she snapped open her eyes. She remembered! Everything came immediately and overwhelmingly back to her; but of all the different events that swarmed her mind, only one remained firmly at the center of her mind's eye. _His_ eyes. Emblazoned on her mind as it is on her heart, his Prussian blue eyes regarded her so piercingly, even as a memory seared in place by heartbreak.

Suddenly, she felt a new stinging – the stinging of oncoming tears. _No, Relena! You mustn't! _She propped herself up on one elbow and, pushing back her bangs, cupped her forehead with her other hand. _You don't even know where you are. Figure that out and figure out how to get out of here before you think about anything (or anyone) else. No one is going to save you this time._ She blinked at that. _Yes, _he_ will not come. Not this time, not ever again. _At that, she gave a single dry sob, as if in self-pity and dejection; but she picked herself up – slowly, agonizingly – and leaned against the wall for support. The wall was also concrete. She looked around her surroundings for the first time.

She was in a small cold, concrete cell. Where the dim, dingy light was coming from Relena did not know, but it was enough to reveal a steel door embedded in the far wall that looked to be at least several inches thick. It had no latch on this side. Other than that one feature, the prison was utterly nondescript; the surfaces of the walls, ceiling, and floor were gray, bore no scratches or other mars, and stole the heat from her touch with all the fervor of a winter blizzard. Relena found that it was frightening, this ubiquity, because it was, every inch of it, impersonal, calculated, and cold-hearted. It was a cell for the sole purpose of being a cell; whether it held a king or a pauper made absolutely no difference to it. Figuratively speaking, _everyone _who was ever unfortunate enough to find themselves here in this room had been reduced to ashes. And Relena knew she would be no different.

That was her last independent thought, for at that moment, any other that might have come to her was chased away by the opening of that single door. Framed by steel and concrete, the figure of a man stood silhouetted against a blinding light. And then, he stepped into the cell.

Dekedenz Cocytus.

Relena watched him silently and with all the wariness of a cornered creature as he approached at a leisurely pace. She felt her gaze drawn and held to that proud, sneering, and, yes, lecherous grin as if it were some hideous disfigurement on his visage. And indeed it was; This smile, the smile that revealed his blackened soul, marred his otherwise pleasing external features. Like a living, breathing Dorian Gray.

Seeing that she was determined to remain silent, Dekedenz spoke up in greeting.

"Relena Peacecraft." She shivered at his mocking tone. "Please, allow me to apologize for the harshness of... my men." As he said this his eyes rested unabashedly on the pink, hand-shaped welt on her creamy cheek. Relena narrowed her eyes in anger, but made no sound and no other movement. "But that must have been quite a fight you put up, my dear, for normally my men would not dare to mar what is mine."

"Excuse me?" Relena's eyes widened in surprise. _Mar what is his? He thinks I am his? _Immediately her independent and self-empowered nature reared up in disgust. _I am _not_ an object to be owned!_

"Ah, but you heard me quite clearly, Princess," he said lightly, as if it were the most natural thing in the world. "You now belong to me."

"You'll never get away with this," warned Relena. "The world will find out. And the world will fight back to keep their peace. You can never destroy peace by ransoming hostages, because it is something that lives in the people's hearts."

At this, Dekedenz threw his head back and laughed loudly, unnerving Relena. "So true, Princess Relena. Which is why I have no intention of ransoming you..." Relena watched him with uncertain fear in her eyes. He chuckled some more at her naivete. "No, I will keep you and make you my own. And you will stay with me, and make it known to the entire United Earth Sphere Alliance that you belong to me, so that they will accept me and my rule like the blind sheep that they are."

There it was – the reason behind all this madness.

"Never," she spat, "I'll die first."

Dekedenz waved his hand dismissively, with an air of condescension tantamount to lecturing a five year-old for throwing a tantrum. "By all means, it won't be necessary to go so far as to kill you. No, my dear... it only takes what's enough to _break_ you." She gaped at him in horror. "And the beauty is, 'enough' is completely within your control. Why, 'enough' could be none whatsoever, if you will accept me here and now." He paused, giving her a chance that he knew she would not take. She only glared back at him defiantly. Then, he continued with a barely audible sigh, "Or, if you decide to be 'brave' and hold out on me, then I am afraid you will be... ah, how shall I put this delicately... 'educated' until you are 'corrected.' Although," he crossed his arms on his chest, "I'd really rather you take the easy way and give yourself to me soon, if not immediately. It saves me valuable resources and even more valuable time. And besides," here his eyes swept up and down her figure in a way that made her want to retch, "it would give me much more pleasure if you were physically unblemished when I take you. Bruises, cuts, burns, and various other marks on your porcelain skin will only decrease my pleasure as I enjoy you. Your mind, though, is of no consequence," he added as an afterthought. "Broken and vapid is just fine by me."

_So this is my fate!_ Despite all she tried to do to restrain herself, she choked on a sob and clasped both hands over her mouth as her eyes teared up.

"Yes. A most regrettable fate," he sympathized, seeing her reaction and guessing her thoughts, "but as I said, completely avoidable. There's no way out, and, like the falling night envelops you, you know you cannot hide from it. So accept it."

Relena took her hands from her mouth, and although there were still tears welling in her eyes, those light blue orbs now hardened fiercely. "Dekedenz Cocytus, I will fight you with every ounce of strength I have. I will never, never hand you mankind's hope for true peace."

He closed his eyes, nodded once, and bowed low. "As you wish, Princess. Then you shall see me tomorrow, and we shall... begin. After all, according to yourself, you do still have two days to give me your answer. And make no mistake about it – in two days' time, you will have surrendered _utterly _and _eternally _to me." He bowed again, a bow of perfect courtesy and civility, and left her cell.

When the heavy steel door lumbered into place and sealed itself with a resounding clang, Relena sank onto her knees before falling forward onto her hands. She hung her head, letting her golden tresses drape her back, her shoulders, and fall forward to envelop her.

And she wept.

* * *

AN: Thanks to all who read this and all who take the time to review this. Oh, and anonymous reviews have just been enabled. I don't know what I was thinking, letting myself miss half of the suggestions and encouragements that I could have been having. I look forward to reading all that you guys want to tell me. And I know it's probably not something people usually do, but anonymous reviewers, if it's not too much trouble, please see if you can go back and leave me some reviews for previous chapters... especially if there was something that you really liked or disliked about the storyline or about my writing techniques. I definitely want to hear if you thought what Duo did was ridiculous or if Heero seemed out of character. Every comment you guys leave gets me even more pumped to write. Keep pushing me so that I can put out chapter 13 before I go! 


	13. Chapter 13: Villain Divining

AN: Wow, it's been two months and one day since I posted "Valor..." Time, huh? Well anyways, sorry about the shortness of the last chapter. Hope this is more to your liking. And thanks for all your encouragements. I just couldn't allow myself to disappoint you by not posting before I go.

Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam Wing.

* * *

"ETA thirteen minutes, thirteen seconds and counting." 

"Do we have visual?"

"Overcast weather, but tolerable visibility... should take about six minutes."

"Prepare landing procedure."

"Ready and standing by, awaiting initiation command."

This was how the exchange went between the pilot and the mission commander in the cockpit of the Preventers jet, which was currently en route to the Senne River Base. In trying to avoid detection, the jet was flying under the radar, so close to the ground that it just barely missed skimming the top branches of the pine trees, but the pilot didn't even break a sweat. Such was the maneuvering skills of the former pilot of the Gundam Deathscythe.

Beside him, the unofficial commander of this rescue mission and former Wing Zero pilot Heero Yuy sat ensconced in the co-pilot's seat but not actually doing anything in the way of operating the jet. His body was immobile, tense; his eyes were hard and determined. Only occasionally did he seem to rouse himself to give a curt command to the pilot next to him, but he spent the majority of the four hour flight staring fixedly ahead, consumed by internal thoughts. His mind was in turmoil. The events of the past twelve hours, starting with the birthday ball and extending to the proposal, the assault, and ultimately the pursuit, replayed themselves over and over again in his head. There was no escaping them, no banishing the images, no battle to focus his attention on – yet; but that was not what he wanted anyway. No, he what he wanted was to relive it all, to feel the pain, so that he could brand the experience securely into his memory. He never wanted to forget the destructiveness of his emotions. The only way to live a good life is to follow your emotions.

Duo glanced sidelong at his comrade and friend, who continued to stare straight ahead, not acknowledging or even appearing to be aware of the slight movement. He sighed. He knew that he was mentally beating himself up over this. But what could he do for him? Tell him that it wasn't his fault? Heero would never listen. Sure, that was something that he himself desperately wanted to believe. But then again, that little voice in his head would speak...

So he sighed again, and redirected his attention to the control panel before him. That's when he saw the Senne River Base appear on the camera as a tiny speck. He pushed a button that let him address the cabin and spoke into the headset, "Attention passengers. Visual contact of the base has just been established. Seven minutes and counting until landing. As is customary to the God of Death and to most of the Gundam-piloting occupation, we will be approaching target on foot, to minimize chances of detection. _Baal's not gonna know what hit 'em_," he added that last part in a vindictive mumble. "Make one last check of your gear, and please make sure that your trays and seat backs are in the locked and upright posit—"

"Maxwell!"

Duo's speech was cut short by the annoyed, warning tone in Wufei's voice. He was standing in the doorway, trying hard not to lose his composure but looking very much like he wanted to punch Duo. The faces of Trowa and Quatre peered into the cockpit from behind each of his two shoulders.

"All right! All right! Geez... can't take a joke..." he mumbled loudly enough for Wufei to hear clearly.

"This is no time to be making jokes!" Wufei countered.

"Hey, I'm just trying to lighten the mood a little. Don't have a fit!"

The Chinese man was about to refute that allegation when Heero spoke up. "That's enough. Go get ready." His tone left no room for questioning. Wufei and the other two Gundam pilots turned and retreated at the order. "Duo, land this thing at the first suitable site," he relayed, before he, too, slipped out of the cockpit and into the cabin.

When Heero left, Duo heaved a dramatic sigh to no one in particular, and engaged the landing sequence. But his eyes, even during his joking speech, had never softened; for the purpose of this mission had never been forgotten.

-----

Relena was roused from the light and unrestful sleep of the wary by the sounds of someone working the lock to open the door. For a split second a jolt of powerful emotion spiked up through her stomach (was it hope?) and she quickly scrambled to her feet, but it was just as quickly replaced by cold fear.

In a replay of another cell-door-opening a few hours ago, a figure once again stepped into the cell. When her eyes adjusted to the strong light, she once again discerned the face of her captor, Dekedenz Cocytus. _"Then you shall see me tomorrow, and we shall... begin,"_ she heard his voice say in her memory. Immediately she grew fearful, but she tightened her hands into fists and tensed her body, refusing to tremble in his sight.

"Good morning, Relena." He bowed. "I trust you slept well?" he baited her purposefully.

"If I can get any rest, and what happens to me, is of no consequence," she looked at him levelly. "But know this, Dekedenz. You will never be able to steal the peace, because the people truly desire it in their hearts. They do not have peace because I give it to them, so no matter what you do to me, they will never have to let it go."

"What happens to you is of no consequence, indeed?" An amused gleam entered his eyes as he chose to ignore her pacifistic assertions and instead to focus on her self-minimization. "Why, if you say so, my dear. Thank you for giving me _carte blanche_. You have eased the last of my reservations about all this." He laughed heartily as she paled. "But before we formally begin, I feel it is my duty to re-pose my offer, and then to address a certain issue. First, common courtesy dictates that I ask you this question once more: Will you spare yourself, and surrender to me?"

"You know my answer already," she said with resolution, though her voice was shaking just barely.

"I admire your conviction – just one of the many things that set you apart from everyone else and draw me to you, and the one thing that, possessing, will give me the most pride when you... finally come to see things my way."

She glared at him.

"Then the second item on the agenda before we proceed: An earnest discussion. About peace."

Relena blinked incredulously. Did she hear him correctly? He, Dekedenz Cocytus, the man who kidnapped her and aspires to rule the world, would like to discuss peace? Perhaps this was her chance; if she employed all her skill, she might be able to talk him out of this insanity.

"I felt that during my first visit to you in this cell, we got off on the wrong foot. We were both excited – you from your abduction, myself from anticipation... But I do want to talk. Despite what you may think, I am really not a crass individual. I truly believe in courtesy and chivalry. Ambition and genius are no excuse for lacking manners."

As if to prove his point, he signaled for two stiff-backed but comfortable chairs to be brought into the cell. He took one of them, the one with its back facing the door, and motioned for Relena to take the other. She did so, hesitatingly.

"There. Are you comfortable, my dear? Shall I send for some refreshments? By no means would I desire you to fatigue while we debate. You must merge from this with the freshest of spirit, for there's so much waiting for you afterwards."

Relena shuddered, but she said to him, "I am fine. Let us begin."

He looked at her intently as he put his fingertips together and rested them against his lips. "Very well."

-----

Outside, five young men in brown Preventers uniform wove their way stealthily through the pine trees and toward the base. Each one carried two pistols, spare magazines, three grenades, a pack of explosive putty, a multi-use detonator, and a dagger in their boot. And that was only what could be seen on the exterior. As they neared the steel-walled compound, they began to spot miniature surveillance cameras wired to the trunks of some pine trees, concealed by masses of their dark green needles. Heero, with his eagle eyes, was the first to see one. One look from him to each of them in turn was enough to alert the others of his discovery. It was a mystery, how these five men could communicate so clearly with something so fleeting and nebulous as a glance, but they were all soldiers who understood the battlefield and comrades who understood each other. Not wanting to alert the security of their presence, the former Gundam pilots opted to go around the cameras' viewing ranges instead of taking them out. But it wasn't easy. The cameras had been skillfully positioned so that together they covered almost every inch of ground; there was no direct way to advance, so they were forced to take wide looping detours and change direction frequently and abruptly. Still, headway was headway, and, not as slowly as one would expect or Baal would hope, they approached the base.

In just a few minutes, they arrived at the gray, chain-link fence that surrounded the compound. They stopped to conceal themselves in the shadows of the pine trees as two guards walked by in front of them, just a stone's throw away – or a bullet's flight. Duo took the safety off of his pistol and gave Heero a raised eyebrow in a questioning look. Heero shook his head once and pointed to his ear. _They're wearing microphones. Gunshots will be heard by the others._ Dejectedly, the God of Death uncocked his gun and slipped it back into his waistband.

"Yes, Bill, all's clear at the south side," said the nearest and pitifully unaware guard, who raised a hand to touch his in-ear transmitter with his fingertips. At the same time, Wufei and Trowa nodded to each other and leapt up simultaneously to clear the fence, the Chinese man with dignified poise and the acrobat with fluid flourish. They landed silently just behind the pair of hapless guards, who barely even had time to open their eyes wide in shock let alone turn around to defend themselves. One received the rigid edge of a right hand at the side of his neck, just below the ear where the jugular runs; His partner, who found one hand on his chin and one hand gripping the back of his head securely, was treated to a spine-snapping jerk. One-two. Just like that, with no noise made during the entire process, the guards fell down dead at the feet of the Gundam pilots, and Baal's ranks was less two members.

Trowa and Wufei looked up from the bodies to find that their three comrades had already jumped over the fence. In a flash of nostalgia, Trowa folded his right arm across his front, extended his left arm out to his side, and bowed low at the waist to them. Duo flashed him a grin of amusement and looked down at the dead guards. At the sight, he lifted both eyebrows and puckered his lips in a soundless whisper, a clear sign that he was impressed with their work. Quatre grimaced at the guard with the broken neck. His head was twisted at an impossible angle, but mercifully he had fallen with his face turned away. Heero looked at them and then at the two Preventers with a blank face and emotionless eyes. _I don't have to kill anyone... anymore, _he heard his own voice play in his head. He said that once upon a time, long long ago, just before he fell into the embrace of an angel. With a blink that, for him, was equivalent to a start in anybody else, he snapped out of his unwelcome memory and started moving again.

"Shouldn't stay long," he murmured to the others. The microphones in the guards' ears were probably still on. The others nodded their assent, and as soon as clearance keys and ID barcodes were collected from the pockets and the bodies cleverly hidden in some bushes, they sprinted for the base.

Luckily, they only saw a few other guards pacing the grounds from a distance before they reached the South entrance, but there were no other encounters. Judging from their semi-relaxed posture as they walked to and fro, central command had not gotten whiff of the infiltration.

"Idiots," Heero heard Duo mutter under his breath as he eyed the guard that had just passed by above them, giving him a pitiful shake of his head. Deciding to pay him no mind, he returned his attention to the door and the access panel beside it. Before it stood Trowa, clearance key in hand. He took a moment to study the design, making sure that the way he believed the door opened wouldn't actually set off the alarm. Then he slid the card across the receptor, magnetic side down.

"Identity confirmed. Officer Josh Nelson. Please enter clearance code," read the display above the number pad. Trowa gazed down at the numbers in puzzlement. He didn't know the code. Suddenly he felt a shoulder nudging him out of the way. He stepped to the side and looked up to find Heero standing in front of the panel now, eyes boring intently into the number pad, narrowed in deep thought. Then he entered the numbers 185125141. The other four pilots held their breaths for three seconds before the display lit up with a green back light and the steel door slid open. With no reaction, Heero strode inside. They glanced at each other with questioning looks before they followed him in.

When the door slid closed behind them, Duo grabbed Heero by the shoulder. "How did you know the code?" he asked for everybody there.

Heero met his curious eyes with a level glare. "Think like Cocytus."

Duo turned his head to that one ear was closer to Heero and shook his head a little, indicating that he did not understand.

He sighed mentally. "It's Relena." Then he walked on.

The other three pilots widened their eyes at his genius. Duo thought about this for a while. Suddenly his eyes lit up. "Oooooohhhh," he said to his comrade's back, "Wow Heero, that was inspired."

He walked on, giving no indication that he heard the brazen comment.

_Geez, the freak uses Relena's name as a password, only in number form, _he thought to himself. _And either Heero's really good at villain-divining, or he, too, has got Relena on the brain. And not just in a mission way..._ He was glad that he could have this little idea to brighten his mood as he followed the rest of them deeper into Cocytus' base.

* * *

AN: Not _that _bad of a cliff hanger, right? And now, I go to college. I'm sorry to say I don't know when the next update will be, but I can say with certainty that I _will not_ forget about this fic. So don't forget about me, ok? Keep poking and prodding me with your reviews, my readers. I couldn't live without it. I'll be back. 


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